New Thunderbolts
by Impurest Cheese
Summary: New City, New Thunderbolts, same old problems. With the underworld uniting against them Chicago's newest heros are about to be severally tested by the Silent Partner. Will any of them survive and prove that they can be better then what they have been. Set between Dark Avengers 175 - Current. Currently Guest Staring - The Uncanny Avengers
1. Team Roster

Team Roster

**Thunderbolts**

Interceptor - Abner Jenkins

Songbird - Melissa Gold

Oxide - Christopher Colchiss

Boomerang - Fredrick Myers

Smokescreen - Juno Shepherd

Quicksand - Cao Thi Cat

Vassal - Cody Twain

Black Tarantula - Carlos La Meurto

**Former Thunderbolts**

Revenant/Sage - Diana Fox


	2. Prolouge: Fall From Grace

Heavy footsteps sounded along the endless corridors of the Raft Correctional Facility as the battered armoured form of MACH V moved towards the end chamber, the lithe form of his friend Songbird covered in bruises. For nearly a year the armour's pilot had put up with the changes made to the team that he owed so much too but the latest development that F.A.C.T* had sprung on them was a step too far. He and Songbird had spoken to the team leader but as usual Luke Cage, the former Power Man and part time Avenger had dismissed their opinions. By the time MACH V reached his destination his anger had reached boiling point and with a single punch he knocked down the armoured door that had blocked his way to the F.A.C.T conference chamber. As he entered he saw the committee flinch as the door crumpled and the two Thunderbolts stood before them.

*(Federal Advisory Committee to the Thunderbolts)

"Abraham how pleasant to see you." The dark skinned leader of the group announced his hands wrapped around the arms of his chair. "What can we do for you today?"

"I'm here to talk about what you're doing to the Thunderbolts we lost." Abe bellowed, "You've decided to give up on them before we even started looking. I want to know what you were thinking bringing those monsters that were running with Osborne into the fold."

"Mr. Jenkins." a blonde suited woman said, her voice purring, "We feel that the lost Thunderbolts are a necessary loss. The team we have put together will serve just us well as them, maybe even better."

"Necessary losses?" Melissa spat, "Fixer is our friend, Troll and Ghost were loyal to the team and as for the others, well they may not have been the best fix but they don't deserve to be forgotten."

"We understand your links to the team but we at F.A.C.T believe that they are not likely to return." the dark skinned man announced. "Warden Walker and Luke Cage both signed off on the selection we expect you two to do the sign or we will be forced to take steps."

"Are you seriously threatening us?" Abe asked crunching his armoured fists together.

"No just warning you." The third member of the committee added. "Mr. Jenkins, Miss. Gold we don't want to be enemies with you.

"Really that's not what your buddy just said." Abe growled pointing at the dark skinned man. "Mel and I have put our blood, sweat and tears into this team and have got nothing out of it. That's cool but I'm not going to let you drag the Thunderbolts name through the mud."

"It would probably be a lot cleaner." The blonde woman hissed. "We are planning to scrap the name, restore some honour and try and wash away some of the muck your former members have pilled on the team."

"Every team has some bad apples." Melissa begun before being cut off by the blonde woman, "So you would call individuals such as Baron Zemo, Bullseye, Crossbones, Moonstone, Mr. X and Nuke bad apples? Between them they represent the worst of humanity."

"It still doesn't justify leaving them out in the lurch." Melissa replied, sonic energy pulsing as she spoke.

"Please calm down Miss. Gold." the dark skin man announced, "We wouldn't have to do something rash to you." he added smiling a large malevolent grin.

"There are the threats again." Abe stated. "You don't have the power to harm us."

"On the contry we have all the power we need." the dark skin man stated, "I forward that Abraham Jenkins AKA Mach 5 and Melissa Joan Gold AKA Songbird be suspended from active duty immediately."

"Motion Seconded." the Blonde Woman agreed.

"Motion carried." the third member finished, "I believe you have no further business in this…" his voice trailed off as a sonic fist slammed into his nose sending him sliding off the jaw.

"Now we have no more business." Melissa snarled as she turned to leave the room, Abe shrugged before pointing at the dark skinned man, "This ain't over hombre."

"But it will be." the F.A.C.T leader replied. "Very soon." he added as the woman helped the sprawled man back into his chair. "I'm sure nobody would object if I activated contingency Omicron?" he asked the rest of the committee.

"None what so ever." the bleeding man said through gritted teeth. "I hope the bitch suffers."

Melissa and Abe walked silently along the corridors, their heads bowed as they walked past the rows of convicted criminals, all of them cat-calling and taunting them as they walked past. They had managed to avoid Luke on the way out, he was out on assignment, but they knew sooner or later they would have to deal with his accusations and questions as well. Stopping in Cell Block E Abe turned to look out over the courtyard to where the Thunderbolts Tower had been, now just represented by a gaping hole and crumbling masonry.

"You didn't have to hit him." he told Melissa as she walked over to the door.

"Yes I did." she replied japing at the key pad. "I don't know who those F.A.C.T guys think they are but I do know they are rotten. We've been around enough basterds to know them when we see them."

"Apparently SHIELD and Captain America chose them." Abe answered as Melissa jabbed at the key-pad. "I know that I'm sure as hell going to talk to them about what they are up too."

Melissa frowned as she continued to jab the key-pad, the damm thing had worked on the way up. Looking around she saw that all the Guardsmen from this block had vanished and the prison cells had become unusually quiet. Abe seemed to have noticed it too as he went to the other door and typed a command in. "This one's out too." he stated. Melissa never answered, with a hiss the ten doors on the left hand side of the block opened and the convicts inside stepped out blinking as they looked into the setting sun and marvelled on their seemingly early release. "Warden this is MACH V." Abe said as he twisted one of his gauntlets. "Warden come in." All he got in response was static as the convicts begun to encircle the pair of Thunderbolts.

"You heard what the brass offered." sneered one of them as he removed a set of knives. "Get them and we get off this rock." Melissa narrowed her eyes before throwing up a sonic shield just as the knives started flying and the escaped thugs ran towards them. The first to reach their position was Shatterfist, Melissa recognized him as well as the majority of the others, and he slammed his fist into the shield causing it to dissipate knocking Melissa backwards and leaving Abe's back exposed. Abe dodged Shatterfist's punch and threw him over his shoulder just as the hulking form of Field Stone grabbed him by the head and slammed him into the ground. Firing his boosters Abe rocketed along the floor knocking Field Stone down and crushing another inmate against the prison wall. Getting to his feet he saw Melissa repelling Hoopsnake with a blast of sonic energy, sending the serpentine felon sprawling before turning to the now blazing form of Watchfire, a mistake that exposed her back to the diminutive Knickknack, the cretin producing a second set of knives. Powering up his blasters Abe fired, the shot going wide and blasting Melissa sending her falling to the floor.

"Sorry Mate, It's not that easy." one of the convicts sneered, purple energy pulsing round his hands. "Name's Manslaughter hero, not that it matters, once your dead we get to stroll right out of those doors." he told Abe clenching his fists, within seconds Abe's brain was wracked with pain and he fell to his knee's screaming.

Melissa watched the throwing knives fly over her head, heard Abe scream in pain and tasted the ambient electricity as the felon know as the Eel walked towards her, his hands sparking as he reached down towards her. Reacting instinctively Melissa kicked up clamping the Eel's neck in her legs and throwing him backwards before hand-springing to a standing position. Stepping over the Eel the punk known as Hellrazor rushed in, his hand clenched round a massive scimitar formed from bio-electricity, her own hands blazing Melissa slipped forward blocking his swipe with her own sonic blade. With a series of blocks and parries Melissa found her opening and sliced through her opponents sword before throwing him aside just in time to see Shatterfist come thundering in, his blow connecting with her jaw sending her skidding backwards. Looking over to where Abe was Melissa saw that her comrade was in more trouble then her as Hoopsnake curled round him constricting his arms while the massive form of Powderkeg reigned blow after blow on his armour's chest plate, tiny explosions chipping metallic slivers off his suit.

"Hey Shatterfist." Manslaughter sneered, "Give us a hand mate, Powderkeg here is flipping useless." he called. Shatterfist glared at Melissa before turning and running towards Abe. Melissa reached out with her powers, aiming for Shatterfist's feet, a sonic tie felling him sending him crashing into Manslaughter. Powderkeg looked for three long seconds before turning back to Abe, his punch blocked by the armoured Thunderbolt. Abe smiled behind his visor and slammed his free hand into Powderkeg's gut before activating the concealed Taser, the blast of energy sending the thug flying. The same blast of electricity made Hoopsnake shift and Abe activated his armour's sonic shields, the sound blast exploding out ripping Hoopsnake into two, his armoured torso reaching out as the cybernetic tail thrashed usefully. Abe kicked the fallen villain's torso as it made a grab for him, sending it sailing into Knickknack as he reached for a curved throwing knife. The battle was now in his and Melissa's favour, he thought as he watched Melissa block a set of thrown chemical vials from a spectacled man known as the Quartermaster. Besides him only Watchfire was still on his feet, although both Shatterfist and Field Stone looked as if they were making an effort to stand and continue the fight. As he analyzed the situation Watchfire exploded into action, the villain's body filling the room with smoke. Abe knew if the burning figure continued to burn he would choke the whole room. Throwing a disc at Fieldstone, Abe ducked under the rocky villain's blow before blocking his next clumsy assault setting himself and his opponent into position.

"Sayonara Field Stone." Abe announced activating the anti-gravity disc that Fixer had given him before he vanished. Field Stone looked down before being propelled out through the reinforced window and slamming into the deck below, the smoke produced by Watchfire leaking out and clearing the hall.

Melissa elbow slammed the Quartermaster into the cell wall, the blow knocking off his glasses as he slid down the steel plating. Wind was now blowing through the chamber causing Watchfire to flicker as he advanced on her, fire streaking from his fingers along the floor towards her, cinders burning her skin. Concentrating Melissa slipped a sonic bell-jar over the walking inferno and watched as the fires begun to die down as Watchfire coughed and spluttered, the fire wreathing his body dying out leaving his naked form clawing at the walls. Behind him the jar shattered and Shatterfist staggered forward an angry look on his face as he drew back his fist. "I'm still able to beat you to death Gold." he growled as he threw the punch. Melissa jumped back and wreathed her whole arm in sonic armor and punched back, the blow sending Shatterfist tumbling back past Abe and crashing into the locked door. Melissa suddenly felt the room heat up again as Watchfire attempted to re-ignite, now free of his sonic prison but he was quickly doused by Abe, the anti-radiation grenades bathing the villain in thick foam.

"Okay that was bracing, luckily we were in the loser aisle." Abe stated, "You hear Knickknack mention the brass?"

"I did." Melissa replied looking down at the deck as several Guardsman stunned Fieldstone, the rocky giant crashing too his knees panting as electricity danced across his body. "You think F.A.C.T set them on us?"

"I wouldn't bet against it." Abe answered. "They locked the doors, blocked communications and opened the cells. Apart from them only the Warden can do all those things and I don't think Walker would try anything like that." As he finished the doors hissed open and several Guardsmen flooded the chamber, all of them pointing their weapons at Abe and Melissa rather then the unconscious villains that were littering the floor. "Well this isn't good." he stated as their former allies begun pushing them towards the opening created by Fieldstone's departure.

"Sir we have orders to escort you off site." one of the Guardsmen announced. "If you return before you are reinstated it will be considered trespassing and you will be arrested. Before you can leave F.A.C.T want you psychologically analyzed and for you to surrender your armor or in your case Ma'am take a power inhibition shot so you're not a danger to the community."

"Do you really want to go through all that hassle?" Melissa asked, a wicked smile etched across her face. "Because all the scum in the cells just tried and they failed."

"Are they resisting?" a second Guardsman asked the first causing him to turn away from the two Thunderbolts. In the corner of his eye he saw a flash of pink light, as he turned back he saw that Songbird and MACH V were know out over the ocean, rapidly diminishing dots heading for the horizon. Up in F.A.C.T's command chamber the committee watched the Thunderbolt's escape, no emotion showing on their face.

"The Thunderbolts have been a problem for too long." the Blonde Woman announced, "We should terminate them."

"And we will, but first we should attempt to recapture them. It is imperative that we try and regain control before they figure out who we really are." The dark skinned man announced, "They will soon make a mistake and we will be able to take them down with the blessings of the US government."

"They'd better, last time we met the Thunderbolts ruined our plans." the blonde woman hissed before glancing over to their third member, still clutching his nose. "If we fail we have several assets that would be willing to aid us not to mention our silent partner."

The dark skinned man stood and watched the screen, his hand scratching a patch of skin on his arm, the flesh green and wrinkled under the strange lighting of the chamber. "Soon my friends the Thunderbolts will die and this world will be ours."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #2**

What could entice our Thunderbolt Heros into action? Who are F.A.C.T and what are they planning and will Abe and Melissa be able to stop them? And how will they manage it now that they are Persona non Grata? Find out in the next issue.

Remember to submit all comments, questions and queries to me. I look forward to some insight from any and all readers.

Impurest Cheese.


	3. Persona Non Grata - Part I

The two young lovers lay on the edge of the canyon looking up at the stars each silently glad the other was nearby. The skies around Burton Canyon were clear and beautiful, a great spot for star gazing and both were glad they had reconciled. Everything was tranquil until a flash of light darted across the sky, plummeting towards the earth before landing with a thud about six meters from the couple. The crashing object looked like a massive silver sphere, its outer surface glowing slightly as it lay half buried in the mud.

"What the hell is that thing?" the young woman announced her aurburn hair streaked with pink as she pulled on a pair of jeans.

"No idea." her boyfriend stated as he pulled his own clothes on. "Looks kind of like the time travel device from the Terminator."

"Do you think it's safe?" the woman asked. The man shrugged and rubbed his hand across the surface. "It's cool almost like it's been frozen." Suddenly without warning a liquid metal tentacle darted out of the sphere and slashed open his jean pockets before wrapping itself around his I-Phone and retracting the appendage back into the core, the mobile causing ripples as it was submerged. "Fuck it stole my phone." the guy swore, "That fucking thing cost me two weeks wages and I'm not letting some alien…" He stopped as his girlfriend placed her hand on his shoulder and pointed at the sphere. Images from the internet were playing across the surface, mostly news reels and schematics before dissolving into a mirror image of the onlookers.

"What the hell?" the man swore silently reaching for the pistol in his belt holster. His girlfriend shrieked and suddenly more tentacles like the one that had stole his I-Phone emerged. Opening fire he emptied the entire magazine, the bullets impacting with the sphere's tentacles causing them to collapse before retracting back into the sphere until one remained clutching the stolen I-Phone. With a crack the sphere opened, its metal shell draining into the soil revealing its core and the naked woman straining to escape. The two onlookers rushed forward and begun to help her escape, finally pulling her from the sack of fluid, the rescued woman looked up at them, her features covered over with an organic plastic that pulsated as she breathed; her body was perfect almost as if it had been sculpted by a master craftsman.

"Are you okay honey?" the female rescuer asked.

"Last Firewall not breached." the woman from the sphere mumbled. "Must continue to download information."

"What?" the rescuer asked bending down to look at the woman from the sphere, the later raising her head and running her hand over the girl's face. "This flesh is adequate." she mumbled extending a syringe from her palm into the woman's skin, fire running over the surface and back into her attacker's body, her features appearing on her murderer's face.

"Diana." the man yelled as Diana's body incinerated, her killer standing to stare in his face, slate grey eyes boring into him with a fierce hatred. "Adaptive Camouflage complete." the woman announced slashing out with a fierce blow into the former Diana's boyfriend knocking him to the floor before sticking tendril like fingers into his eyes. "Continue Main Objective: Download essential information for transfer. Current Search: Human Biology."

The alarm clock buzzed nosily, with a hard metallic tone that sliced through the air like a knife. With a lazy slap Abe slammed his fist onto the snooze button and hauled himself up out of the bed leaving Melissa's sleeping form alone under the covers. Walking over to the window he peeked out of the covers and saw that the sun was already rising over the Eastern Horizon. Silently he left the room grabbing his uniform before creeping into the kitchen, filling the kettle and pressing the boil button. Even though he and Melissa had been in Burton Canyon for a month the early starts were still killing them even though their lives were a lot less stressed now that they had left the super-powered community. Getting dressed Abe checked his E-Mails and swapped the boiled water into the coffee pot before putting some bread in the toaster. From the bedroom the alarm clock sounded again for a few seconds before being silenced, a flash of pink energy suggesting Melissa had taken a more permanent solution to silencing the clock. A few minutes later she emerged, her hair in a mess clad in an old T-Shirt emblazoned with a cartoon Moonstone announcing that she liked moon-pie and a pair of old jeans. Abe smiled as he looked down at his own uniform, Melissa was not a morning person and it showed.

"Morning." she grunted as he handed her the pot of coffee and a cup.

"It is." he replied as the toast popped up. "Still no word from Fixer or the others." he added sadly.

"F.A.C.T must be rubbing their hands with glee." Melissa snorted. "Still they had it coming."

"Do we have to talk about this now?" Abe asked, "Don't you have work in half an hour?" Melissa shot him a glare before laughing unable to stay angry with him.

"I suppose so if you call reading for the elderly a job." she stated between giggles, "You know the sight of you wearing a tie is still hilarious." Abe shot her a glare back before throwing a slice of toast at her. "Just because I have a responsible job, doesn't mean that you can laugh at me."

"I'm sorry." Melissa answered, "You want me to pick up a new clock after my shift at the hospital?"

"You broke it you buy a new one." Abe replied as his phone beeped, "Hmm looks like they want me to go straight out into the field, looks like we have a 187 just outside of town."

"Be careful." Melissa warned him, "You're not MACH-V anymore." Abe walked over to her and held her in his arms before kissing her forehead. "This is Burton Canyon what's the worst that could happen?"

"Graviton that's what." Melissa answered as he released her. Abe smiled and walked out the door to the black Pontiac Firebird on the drive. As he got into the car his cool façade melted away and he felt something cold run down his spine, he had a bad feeling about today's work.

Abe arrived at the standard sight of a coroner's vehicle, yellow tape and the media stalking around the perimeter. Several officers were already working the scene and repelling the public while guys in Hazmat suits stood around what looked like a body. Slipping under the tape Abe walked over to where the lead detective stood while a deputy angrily tapped a tablet cursing under his breath.

"Detective Sinclair." Abe said announcing his project. "What do we have here? It must be pretty bad if you called me out into the field, I know just how much you hate the publicity I bring to crime scenes."

"Jenkins finally you're here." Sinclair snapped, "The DB is Officer Julian Grant, one of our own, his girlfriend Diana Fox found him and called it in." Sinclair waved a hand at where a young woman sat with a pair of female officers. Abe figured she was still in shock since she was largely emotionless and distant, she may possibly even be the killer but he quickly shunted that though to the back of his head when Sinclair started talking again. "The whole site as well as Grant's body seems to be affected by electromagnetic radiation, it's buggering up our equipment. Hazmat also has found traces of an unknown metallic compound in the soil. It's all very weird and so naturally I thought of you." he turned to face Abe and gave a sinister sneer. "So bug boy what do you think?"

Abe turned to the deputy and looked at the tablet, the screen seemed to show static an un-typical sign of electromagnetic shutdown. It looked more like the device was compromised but we wouldn't be able to know more until he took it back to the lab. "So how did officer Grant die?" hew asked.

"Coroner says that he was messed around with inside, that his organs had been compromised." Sinclair told Abe, "As for me I think the little green men did it. You know the aliens."

"Can you be more specific?" Abe asked, "I mean was it the Skrulls, the Brood maybe the Kree. There are hundreds of aliens out there so just saying it was Aliens isn't helpful. I mean what evidence do we have that aliens are responsible anyway?"

"Well there is the meteor crater and the strange fluid we found over there." the Deputy piped up pointing to an area crawling with Hazmat officers." Abe rolled his eyes, it was clear that Sinclair and the others knew nothing. He walked around a bit, looked at the scene but nothing jumped out at him. He wanted to talk to Diana but she was shepherded away, probably heading for the hospital for a check-up. Part of Abe wanted to talk to her, Grant and Diana were friends of him and Melissa, they had been the friendliest people in the city to the two former Thunderbolts. Maybe he could call Melissa and get her to check on her. Dialling in the number he heard the phone ring before getting Mel's answer phone. He left a message and then looked at his phone, it was working whereas the deputy's tablet wasn't, EM fields were not selective about what they affected so what had the tablet come into contact with that his phone hadn't. Abe had an idea; the radiation coupled with the fluid discharge and the impact crater made him think of the U-Foes; a deadly team of cosmically altered super-villains. The initial evidence suggested that X-Ray, Vapour and Iron Clad had been in the area but it didn't explain why the body of Officer Grant had been unaffected. To find out what was really happening he would have to wait for a proper autopsy and judging from the stalled coroner's van that wasn't going to happen soon.

Melissa sat next to the hospital bed, the elderly lady listening to her every word, the room devoid of any other noise apart from the constant beep of Mrs. O'Brian's life support machine. As Melissa got to the end of the chapter her elderly charge smiled and shifted in the bed.

"Are you okay Mrs. O'Brian?" Melissa asked a worried look on her face.

"Fine dear, I'm just feeling a little tired today. I hope the doctors don't postpone my operation because of that." O'Brian replied. Melissa bowed her head, at eighty six years old Mrs. O'Brian had been diagnosed with lung cancer and wasn't expected to live to eighty seven. Still the older woman was determined to make it and with her birthday only a fortnight away she was full of optimism.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Melissa said the worried look morphing into a timid smile. "So do you want me to read the next chapter?" she asked sticking a marker into the gardening book that O'Brian had chosen to have red to her.

"No I want to know how you and that handsome young man you live with are getting on. You now I need my daily dose of gossip." O'Brian announced.

"No luck on any fronts, we're just good friends nothing more." Melissa replied. Mrs O'Brian smiled and closed her eyes; the life-support machine's beeping fading into static. Melissa stood on horrified as the sounds of screaming and panic erupted around her. Opening the door Melissa saw that the lights had all exploded and that the sprinklers were firing as doctors, nurses and orderlies ran around terrified. Melissa could literally hear the life support monitors of the patients flat-lining before fading to static, something terrible had happened. Seconds later a blast of a shotgun joined the sounds of panic and two female officers of the local police force walked down the corridor blasting away indiscriminately. Melissa blinked before putting up a sonic barricade between the attackers and the civilians, she knew both officers, both were sane normal people, or they had been. With a single thrust Melissa sent the barricade rocketing forward slamming the pair of cops against the wall, the blow knocking them both out. Quickly she ran over and reached for their handcuffs and checked their pulses; while she found the former the later was missing, both the police officers were dead. Panicking Melissa reached for her phone and joined the throng hopping to put some distance between herself and what she had just done.

Abe prodded the corrupted tablet with a spanner before sitting back on his chair, Sinclair had been wrong, EM interference hadn't caused the system to crash, a computer virus was to blame instead. In addition the origin was completely terrestrial, it was similar to some pretty nasty strands he had seen before, most of which had been created by his old pal Fixer, but he reckoned he could crack it and reverse whatever damage it had done. Still there were more pressing matters then playing tech-support; whoever or whatever had infected the computer had left trace behind, in this case fingerprints that contained a radioactive anomaly. As he waited for the culprit to reveal Abe checked his phone, Melissa had sent him a text, one that was very worrying, Abe redialled and waited for three dials before his former teammate picked up.

"Melissa what's going on?" he asked.

"Abe I just killed two people." Melissa replied, she was crying and Abe felt a pang of fear light up his soul. If this was true then he would have to bring her in, it was his duty, but he also loved her and he desperately hoped it wasn't true.

"What happened?" he sighed.

"The hospital just went nuts, all the electronics went haywire. And then Officer Hope and Williams went crazy and attacked people as they panicked, I reacted and stopped them but then…then they went dead." Melissa announced.

"Back up the hospital went haywire?" Abe asked. "Was there static on the electronics?"

"Yes." Melissa answered. "Abe I killed two police officers."

"Did you check the bodies?" Abe asked.

"Yes they had no pulses."

"No did they have anything electronic on them?"

"I didn't check I just got out of there."

Behind Abe the computer chimed and he turned to see the fingerprints had been matched to their owner. They belonged to Diana Fox, the possible witness and almost certain killer. Abe checked her file quickly as Melissa cried on the over end of the phone, there was no history of anarchistic tendencies and while Fox was good on the computer there was no way she could have created the virus that was ravaging Burton Canyon Hospital. "Melissa I need you to go back and check on Diana Fox, I think she may be responsible for what's happening. Be careful she's dangerous; contact me when you find anything out."

"What are you going to do?" Melissa asked.

"I'm going to get the suit and see if I can stop the virus." Abe announced, "Route all communications through my armor and whatever you do don't let her get hold of your phone." Abe hung up the phone and smashed the tablet on the floor before heading for his car, hopefully Melissa would be able to hold it together long enough to stop Fox's cyber attack.

Melissa stood outside the hospital, the building was on fire, if anyone was left inside then they would need to be evacuated. Walking to the door Melissa was unsurprised to find the automatic doors jammed shut. Backing up she took to the air and flew round the building once before locating a smashed window a perfect entry point to the building's interior. Hovering up and squeezing inside it soon became clear that the hospital was no longer a place of medicine, the dead bodies littering the ward she found herself in made it look more like a slaughterhouse. Entering the corridor Melissa headed to where she had killed Hope and Williams, each step making her queasier until at last she reached the corridor where their deaths had occurred. While the area was full of bodies the two police officers were nowhere to be seen, the only clue to their disappearance was the melted remains of the handcuffs she had used to bind them. Melissa sighed, whatever she had done it was obvious that she hadn't killed them. Following the trail of bloody footsteps and empty shell casings back she quickly discovered the point of origin of the attack.

Gingerly Melissa opened the door and surveyed the room before picking up the medical chart at the end of the bed. Diana Fox was scrawled over the title but there was nothing else save a pool of blood had been placed on the form, there was little information but there was enough. Checking under the bed Melissa found the blood's owner, a young nurse, her facial features burnt off and her body stripped of clothing. Whatever Diana was had murdered the woman and now she had a different face to help her blend into the general populous. Behind her the door slammed and Melissa froze as heavy almost forced footfalls walked towards her. Springing from her crouched position Melissa slammed into Officer Hope's chest sending her falling backwards. Officer Williams pumped her shotgun and Melissa turned and lashed out with her powers, a sonic blade scything through the weapons barrel just before the trigger quickly cutting the weapon down to size. Williams screamed something before barrelling forward as Hope begun to reach for her pistol. Melissa countered both of them and quickly floored them before pining them down with sonic energy shaped into restraints. Both of them screamed in a language that Melissa didn't understand as she patted Williams down, eventually finding the officer's radio, warped and twisted as it grew tendrils into the woman's body. Melissa bowed her head, the two officers were no more then zombies controlled by a remote operator. Forming a sonic crowbar with her powers Melissa levered the radios off the officer's skin before crushing them under her boot. Abe would have to be warned, he was still expecting Diana to be the killer not some nurse from the hospital.

Abe flew along the main street following his armour sensors, now calibrated to locate the mystery radioactive source towards the town's high-school. The building was deserted, as most schools in the country are during mid August and he landed in the parking lot adjacent from the computer centre. Battering down the door he followed the trail past banks of computers powered down for the summer. It made sense that the cyber terrorist would hide here but none of the computers seemed to be affected. Heading to the second floor he froze, lying half way down the stairs was a body dressed in a nurse's uniform and covered in blood. Abe quickly scanned the body and breathed a sigh of relief, the woman was alive. Reaching down he saw something move in the corner of his vision and turned to follow it before realising that his sensors were picking up motion behind him. Turning Abe saw the nurse slam her fingers into his armor, the tips wiggling like tentacles into the wires and circuit boards as one by one his armour's firewalls broke down and his broke down and his systems were corrupted.

"Who are you?" he moaned as his visor shut down.

"The herald of the new rulers of this planet. Your species have been judged inferior and will be terminated." the woman hissed, her voice sounding like grinding gears. "Entry was easy this place is scarred with fissures that link all places. Hmm so nice of you to network all your suits of armor," she added, "You Abner Ronald Jenkins have supplied me with the footsoliders that will shepherd in this new age." Abe's visor cleared and he saw the woman retract her fingers, his armor sealing itself where she had gained entry. "Now go and raze this city to the ground, it will be the staging point for my Lord's assault on your planet." Trapped inside his armor Abe screamed, the sound echoing around the suit, it was inevitable he was a prisoner inside his own creation and this time there was no escape.

* * *

**Thunderbolts #3**

With Abe trapped in his suit now under the control of the mystery hacker (who the hell is she?) it's up to Melissa to defend the town from them and an army of battle armor. Is she up to the challenge? Find out in the next Issue.


	4. Persona Non Grata - Part II

Melissa squatted on the roof of the Burton Canyon Hospital, her thoughts conflicted, on one side she was buoyed by the knowledge that she hadn't been responsible for the death of the two officers but on the other the thought that one person was responsible for all the deaths she had witnessed made her stomach turn knots. Spreading sonic wings she leapt off the roof and soared into the sky scanning for the charismatic shape of Abe's armor, eager to join the hunt for the person responsible for the carnage that had been caused. Two minutes into her flight she saw him and accelerated to intercept, judging from his flight pattern Abe was hunting something down on the ground. As she closed the gap Melissa realised that the armor he was using had a massive II printed on the carapace, a strange choice since his current suit was far more advanced.

"Feeling some nostalgia." she yelled as she came up on Abe's wing. Turning his head he glared at her and flared his air-brakes sending him stalling backwards, seconds later Melissa heard the whine of his arm mounted blasters powering up and dived, twin beams of photonic energy blazing past her. Looking back over her shoulder Melissa saw that the MACH II armor was on her six and closing fast. With a quick twist Melissa reversed direction and extended a sonic blade and slashed through the armours left wing ripping off the extended control surface causing the suit to spiral to the ground.

"What the hell Abe?" Melissa yelled as MACH II got to his feet, his head swivelling and taking in the environment around him. The suit had crashed in the grounds of a church and all the information scrawled on the grave markers caused its pilot to stall.

"I asked you a question?" Melissa bellowed. The suit of armor raised its arm and tapped its helmet signalling that it couldn't here what she was saying. Removing her phone Melissa dialled up the number and waited for the dial tone to sound. On the third dial she felt something slide past her ear and she threw the phone down, tentacles reaching for her and catching on her leg as it fell before smashing on a buried tombstone. In the split second that the phone smashed the MACH II armor sprung to life, crossing fifty feet of graveyard and leapt grabbing Melissa's feet and slamming her into the ground before flipping her over and slamming its boot into her gut. Struggling Melissa let her powers bloom, sonic energy ripping from her body and sending everything in a twelve foot radius flying with the majority of the force directed at MACH II, the attacking armor sent into the wall of the church, an ornate masonry spike sticking through the unit's torso.

"Oh my god Abe." Melissa gasped as the armor strained to free itself. "What have you done?" Then she heard the trade-mark whine and ducked as blaster bolts whizzed over her heads, the sudden attack banishing her sorrow and replacing it with anger. In a single swift motion she cut through the armours arms, sonic energy igniting the power cells and setting the suit aflame. Melissa continued her attack and slammed a sonic fist through the visor, the toughened acrylic shattering revealing an empty suit behind the helmet. Kicking off the suit Melissa dropped and combat rolled as the MACH II armor freed itself and ran at her, the once technologically advanced suit now reduced to a walking bomb. Melissa responded without mercy cutting through the suit's legs slowing its advance before taking to the air as the suit detonated. As she rose higher and higher Melissa could see more and more of the city and buzzing around it were more of Abe's suits of armor, at least four others from what she could see, placing her hand over her mouth Melissa though about what had happened to Hope and Williams, if Abe was in the same situation what that meant. She had never considered herself an Avenger, sometimes even hated the word, but Melissa thought, Abe and everyone else who had been murdered by this crazy techno hacker would have justice even if it meant sacrificing the person she had once loved and everything he had worked for.

Diving like a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus, Melissa singled out one suit, its wings beating as it meandered through the streets occasionally landing on the roofs of the buildings and knocking over items. Whatever controlled the suit never thought to look up and Melissa slammed fist first into the suit knocking it to the floor. Scrambling on all fours the suit bucked her off and crawled onto the side of a café before launching itself at its attacker. Melissa recognized the suit know, it was Abe's first set of armor, the Beetle Mk 1 armed only with bladed wings, she gave a wry smile. The Beetle flew towards her and she hastily put up a sonic screen, the armor crashing into the shield, its eyes looking in hopelessly, with a flick of her wrist the shield grew sonic spikes ventilating the suit causing it to spark and fall backwards now inoperative thanks to her powers.

"Abe if you can please fight this." Melissa said as she removed the suit's helmet, "I know you can do this." As she finished the sound of a jet turbine sounded and Melissa turned to see the MACH IV armor bearing down on her, its wrist blaster's charging. Taking to the air Melissa felt the heat from the blast as she flew, the suit lazily keeping track of her, its blasters occasionally firing. _"You're herding me."_ Melissa thought, _"But where and towards what."_ The suit behind her suddenly opened fire this time with missiles, the projectile streaking past and making her veer left towards the town square. The area was more open then the streets, in Melissa's mind it didn't make sense, the suit of armor was faster and more agile since it didn't have to worry about vertigo or nausea, boxing her in a back alley would be more advantageous. Melissa was so busy thinking that she missed the warning beep of a blaster and was hit full force by a concussive blast as a massive suit of armor moved to block her. The blast sent her tumbling and she skidded along the road, the asphalt ripping her skin until she came to rest at the feet of the Beetle Mk 3 armor, the tank like exoskeleton indiscriminately firing mortars and rockets into the surroundings buildings.

"Defiantly herding." Melissa moaned as she got to her feet. The Beetle armor pivoted round attracted to the sound of her voice and almost took her head off with its massive arms, its target ducking and backing up as the MACH IV armor flew overhead, obviously content that its big brother could finish her by itself.

"Meta Human Combatant detected." the Beetle armor rumbled as scanning laser's crossed across Melissa's face and body. Melissa drew back her fist and slammed it into the suit's visor, the blow ricocheting off the hardened cockpit just as the suit flung its wings forward, the bladed tips almost ripping her hands off as she withdrew back to a safer distance. "Target analysis confirmed, Songbird. Threat Analysis determined as Iota Level. Recommended Action - Terminate with Extreme Prejudice." Melissa barley had time to throw up a sonic barricade as the suit unloaded a torrent of flame erupted from the armour's flamethrowers, the sheer intensity of the blast forcing her back even though the shield was holding. The Beetle Mk 3 armor realized this and swapped weapons its antennae glowing as it powered up a radiation pulse from the tips. Melissa dropped the shield and took to the air heading along the street she had just come from as the pulse was released, green energy melting the fronts of buildings and everything else caught in it's path as she cleared the blast zone.

"Switching to missile systems. Selected payload CSA issue A-87 Cicada sound guided rockets." The suit rumbled as it fired a Cicada rocket, the warhead streaking after the rapidly disappearing pink smear. Melissa flew, she knew that the Beetle Mk 3 was an absolute tank, it would be hard to damage and even harder to take down, her best bet was to disable the hackler's master control and let the armor offline naturally. Darting along the streets she saw two more suits; the MACH I and MACH III duelling with the newly arrived National Guard, the acrid smell of gunfire mixing with the burning ozone reek of plasma venting. Shooting past she hopped the two suits would ignore her but seconds later the all too familiar sound of blasters charging up sounded and she found herself flying through swarms of plasma rounds lighting the sky around her with a sickly yellow haze. Looking back she saw that not only were there two MACH suits perusing her but that somebody had also launched a missile at her, the warhead flying past the slower MACH I suit as the MACH III unit climbed looking to blast her from above. Melissa climbed as well keeping pace with the suit until they were level, the rocket and MACH I struggling to follow. As they hit 10,000 feet she dived streaking down with MACH III hot on her heels. As she passed the rocket she saw it turn in the corner of her eye and follow her down. Increasing her speed Melissa saw the MACH I suit heading straight towards her, its rocket pack icing over. Sheathing herself in a sonic shroud Melissa shot straight through the armor like a knife through butter, the bisected suit falling away as she descended before flaring her sonic wings just as she reached the height of the buildings dirt flying up into her eyes.

Blinking once…twice Melissa cleared her eyes and saw that the MACH III suit had overshot, its boosters having carried it far away from her landing point. Listening Melissa heard the missile streak down like the proverbial sword of Damocles heading for her head. Waiting for the last moment Melissa sprung forward, sonic energy propelling her step and took to the streets flying low and bracing for an explosion that didn't come. Reversing she saw that the sonic burst that had allowed her to escape the missile had knocked the warhead up and prevented it from detonating and that it had resumed its lethal trajectory after her. Sonic energy flaring from her hands Melissa sped up and headed for an intercept course until the two forces collided, sonic energy slashing the surface of the missile as it flew past its guidance system removed before detonating as it slammed into the shop at the end of the road. Collapsing to the floor Melissa breathed a sigh of relief before throwing the guidance system away. All she had to do now was find the mystery hacker. Taking to the skies once again she headed for the outskirts of town listing for anything that might give her target away.

Abe tried to listen for anything over the sound of static, as he attempted to break free from his ariel prison but nothing rose over the cocoon of white noise he was wrapped in. Looking out he saw his creations wreak destruction on the city as the MACH V suit flew overhead flanked by the Beetle Mk 2 Armor and the recently returned MACH IV suit. Why was he being escorted? A theory blossomed in his mind, for all the alien computers ability to overtake his systems there must be some way for him to regain control. If there wasn't then why keep him under the watchful sensors of his guards. And then he heard it, words flying up from the deep abyss of hissing and buzzing. "Abe if you can please fight this I know you can do this." Melissa's words slammed into his head like a mental sledge-hammer, the blow waking his brain up. He could fight, lash out and try and take control. Focusing he felt cold fingers of alien intelligence caressing the suit and he reached out touching the unknown consciousness for only a second, what he received was a lifetime of information. Of a mind that had been beaten, broken and made to serve, a mind that had believed her master's promise of a better world, a mind who hated that it had been made to serve and one that had been willing to escape when it had been given the chance. Abe would have felt sorry for it if it hadn't caused the chaos he was flying over. In that one second he knew how to beat it. With great effort he opened his mouth and coughed out the words even as alien tendrils protruding from the armor tried to pull him back, "Melissa I am here."

Melissa circled over the war-zone that until a few hours ago had been the sleepy community of Burton Canyon. As she soared over the carnage she listened catching snippets of sound. The National Guard were digging in, the attacks of the Beetle and MACH suits were overwhelming and they had decided to call the Avengers in. She heard people cursing her and Abe for ever coming here and scything through the background noise she heard Abe call out. With a smile she locked onto the sound and headed for the source unaware that the MACH III armor had been shadowing her. Silently it flared its boosters and perused her as they headed for the grounds of the high-school where Abe and his escorts were stationed.

It took Melissa only three minutes to cross the city to where the trio of suits were circling. Surveying her opponent's she zeroed in on the sound, Abe was trapped in the MACH V armor while the other two kept the manned suit in between them just in-case anybody came to rescue him. Melissa swooped in on her targets; she would rescue Abe no matter what even if it meant her destruction. She never saw the MACH III armor charge it's blasters to full and defiantly didn't here the warning whine that the weapon charge made. She did feel the heat as they slammed into her and as she fell from the sky she heard a scream of rage before she hit the ground, the blow causing her to black-out as the sounds of battle raged around her.

Abe watched as Melissa fell and his anger bubbled to the surface, with a scream of rage he broke the connection with his alien puppet master, his rage burning so hot that it caused the tentacles to retract in fear of being burned by the raw emotion. With a quick squeeze of the trigger Abe fired his own blasters on maximum power, the lance of energy cutting through the MACH III armour's security seal causing the suit to fall apart as it flew, individual components flying off like shrapnel peppering the MACH IV and Beetle Mk 2 armor as they flew on intercept courses. Focusing on the MACH IV suit Abe switched weapon systems and fired the pair of heavy nosed warheads that the suit carried. The MACH IV armor reacted quickly firing off chaff, the warheads veering away from their intended target as Abe fired again and opened fire with the shoulder mounted plasma Gattling, the blasts charring the enemy armour's carapace. The armor sounded a warning of an attack from behind and Abe turned to see a rocket fly in from the town centre and collide with his suit, the impact ripping off the left hand control surface and sending him spiralling into the ground. Dragging himself from the wreck he saw the MACH IV armor land next to the downed MACH V and step over the smoking wreck. Grabbing Melissa, Abe ran for the school as the armor exploded, the blast catching MACH IV in its wake and ripping the chassis into pieces.

"Abe." Melissa moaned as she opened her eyes. "Don't scare me like that again."

"Noted." Abe answered kissing her on the un-burnt cheek. "Our Hacker is in the computer lab, last time she projected a hologram caught me unaware, this time I know how to beat her." Melissa nodded and wrenched a Fire Axe off the wall and handed it to him. "You will need a weapon."

"Keep it I have all the ammunition that I need." Abe replied as they headed up the stairs. As they neared the lab the floor cracked and the Beetle Mk 2 Armor crawled out of the hole. "Think you can take this one?" Abe asked Melissa and watched as she smiled a wicked grin before springing at the armor, slamming the axe into the chest cavity before vaulting over the Beetle's arm as it tried to knock her away. Raising the axe back again Melissa struck in the same spot, this time running sonic energy along the blade so it cut even deeper then the first blow as the Mk 2 armor powered up a gauntlet, its tip sparking with electricity. Melissa dodged the blow and gave the axe a final swing as the Beetle flung its wings forward the tips cutting through the haft and leaving the bladed head stuck in its chest. With a swift kick Melissa hammered the head into the armour's interior with her foot following, sonic energy coursing through the limb and into the suit as the wings closed in around her. Quickly Abe rushed forward and threw her to the floor covering her body with his as the armor exploded outwards, the head propelled by sonic energy across the floor. "Alas poor Yorrik." Abe said as the head rolled past them. "We don't have much time, while I deal with her you smash all the computers."

"Got it." Melissa announced slamming the door into the computer lab with her powers causing it to fly off its hinges. The hacker looked up, her face framed with auburn hair, green eyes staring in disbelief as she screwed up her nose in disgust. Melissa balked; she was using Diana's face despite the nurse uniform she wore. Raising her hand Diana morphed the limb into a four barrelled blaster, beams of energy cutting through the room as the Thunderbolts advanced behind a sonic riot shield. Melissa turned to look at Abe and saw he had his hand's up. "I want to talk it's about how you can get unlimited information."

The hacker glowered at him before lowering the blaster. "Speak and I will end you and your harlot as painlessly as possible."

"Search for Diana Fox." Abe replied. The hacker stopped searching the data as Melissa walked over to the first computer and tipped it over.

"Stop that." The Hacker hissed, "Tell me how to access the information on Fox, Diana."

"Go to Facebook." Abe ordered. "Go and read what she has to say."

"Why?"

"It's information, just read it." Abe ordered as Melissa moved to the next computer and ripped it out of the wall.

"Went to the cinema today. I totally love Tom Hiddelston, semi colon D." As the hacker read the posts she lowered her arm, the barrels morphing back into hands. "Made pancakes today but burnt the lot. Oh well there's always next time." Another computer crashed and she shot Melissa a glare but went back to reading. "Car needs a new tyre grumble. Grant looks so funny wearing my pink cowboy hat. Melissa loaned my 50 shades of Grey. Switching to low fat milk because of my cholesterol." Each read post hit home like a blow to the face and Diana dropped to her knees. "Last Post for a while. Grant's taking me to watch the meteor shower. I already know what I'm going to wish for."

"Well what have you leant?" Abe asked as Melissa unhooked another computer.

"Make it stop, I don't like It." the Hacker pleaded, black tears streaming from her eyes.

"I can't you chose to masquerade as a human you get the emotions that come with it." Abe snapped, "You saw the person you stole the face off and you felt something didn't you?"

"It hurts." the Hacker said making a grab for Abe as he stepped backwards.

"Good it's meant too. It's called guilt. You are responsible for the deaths of hundreds, the destruction of lives; people have suffered and will suffer because of you. And guess what there is nothing you can do to stop it." Abe snapped as Melissa trashed the second to last computer. "I took one life by accident and it still cuts me like a knife in the gut even with all the good I have done."

"Make it stop I order you." The Hacker yelled.

"He can't, you have to serve your time." Melissa announced causing Diana to twist her head round to face her. "You go to prison and serve your time, it helps a bit but you will never be free of the feelings you have now."

"I will not go back to another prison." Diana hissed sparks erupting from her mouth.

"You don't have to, there is another way. Come with us and help make things right." Abe offered as Melissa's jaw dropped open.

"Are you forgetting what she has done to this town, what she did to you." Melissa growled.

"No but I did see where she came from and I know that I would rather not let F.A.C.T get their hands on her." Abe replied, "If they do then imagine the carnage that happened here but on a global scale. And what if she was captured by AIM or HYDRA or some despot like Doom, the world could be destroyed in days."

"I get that but I don't think we can contain something like whatever she is." Melissa stated.

"I said the same thing about Chen and look how that turned out. We were given a second chance doesn't she deserve one." Abe said extending an arm to encompass Diana kneeling on the floor rocking herself slightly.

Melissa was about to reply when the computer behind her sprung to life, news images emerging from the static. "And now for an update on the attack by Abner Jenkins AKA the Beetle on Burton Canyon, Colorado. The Avengers are finally on site and will hopefully have the scene contained very soon. Victoria Hand. The spokeswoman for the Avengers told us that Jenkins and his accomplice Melissa Gold AKA Songbird despite their former hero status will be treated like any other super villain."

Melissa narrowed her eyes and glared at Diana, "The first step to redemption." she said as Abe helped the alien hacker to her feet, "Is helping us stay alive and out of prison."

* * *

Thunderbolts #4

With the Beetle Invasion quelled how will Melissa and Abe deal with their newest charge the organic super computer Revenant? And more to the point how the hell are the Thunderbolts going to escape Burton Canyon and the Avengers? Find out in the Finale of Person Non Grata.


	5. Persona Non Grata - Part III

Luke Cage stood in the radiation blasted city square as the New Avengers disembarked from the Quinn Jet. Burton Canyon resembled a war zone and while the fighting had stopped for now Luke guessed that there would be all kinds of problems until a semblance of normality had been re-achieved.

"Do you think all this background radiation will cause me to turn green?" a voice asked from above his head. Luke looked up and saw Spiderman hanging upside down from the bottom of the Quinn Jet. "So our buddy the Beetle is back." he stated jabbing a finger at the offline suit of Beetle Mk 3 Armor. "Abe and Melissa are back to their old tricks again I see."

"Looks like all the Thunderbolts are AWOL." Ms. Marvel stated as she ran her hand over the Beetle armor, "Okay Zemo never really reformed and Moonstone and Fixer are god knows where but Jotsen, Gold and Jenkins behaviour recently does seem…" she shrugged and attempted to push over the armor, "weird. God what is this thing made of, it's built like a tank."

"You just have to put some muscle into it." The Thing grunted as he strode over and pressed against it. The Mk 3 armor didn't budge and the Thing gave up before shooting Luke and the suit of armor angry glares. "I hate gizmo's that don't do what you want."

"Okay enough clowning around." Luke announced, "There are several suits all of them except this one are destroyed. We are going to go out in pairs and inspect them see if we can find Jenkins. The good news is that he is probably out of armor and will be easy to take down. The bad news is that Songbird is still active and is defiantly a threat. Keep your eyes open and if in doubt go for the knock out if the Thunderbolts cause any trouble."

"Besides this you mean." Spiderman announced gesturing to the still burning buildings that stood around them.

"Danny take Spiderman and check out the church. Danvers two wrecked suits were brought down a couple of blocks from here, take Ben and analyze the scene before heading off to Jenkins and Gold's house. Victoria can give you the address before she and Mockingbird go and investigate a stalled suit by the town's supermarket. Wolverine and I will check out the school. The sooner we deal with these punks the sooner I can figure out what the hell they have been up to." Abe turned off the computer screen; he'd reactivated the Mk 3s surveillance gear and hadn't liked what he had seen. He and Melissa were still holed up in the school removing Diana's tangled web of cables and relays. Even with the alien cyborg aiding them it was an almost impossible task and Luke and Logan would be here long before everything was disconnected.

"So what's the plan?" Melissa asked as she slashed through a set of wires with a sonic dagger.

"Get to the house; I packed some emergency kits if we ever needed to escape quickly." Abe instructed, "There are fake cards, some cash and identity masks all we need is a change of clothes."

"And the plan for getting out of the school?" Melissa asked him. Abe looked over at Diana as she reached out and drained the silicon out of a microchip, gold liquid metal running down her arms. "We engineer a hostage scenario."

The pair of the Avengers reached the school quickly; it was clear from the mess that Jenkins suits had encountered something stronger then them. One showed signs of friendly fire and Luke hopped that maybe it's pilot had escaped the blast. Turning away from the school to investigate a burnt patch of ground littered with shrapnel he flinched when he heard an explosion and a pink light obliterated the wall of the computer building. Turning he saw Melissa her eyes burning as a pink corona surrounded her, levitate out of the building. Behind her Abe followed dragging a woman by the wrist, his captive, a nurse by the looks of her, straining to escape. Upon seeing Luke Abe brought her into the classic hostage position, one hand clutched around her waist and the other pressing a curved survival knife to her throat. Luke blinked as Logan got ready to spring into action, Abe was wearing his flight suit but Melissa was dressed in civilian clothes, he didn't quite understand what was going on but he knew enough.

"Logan stand down." he ordered waving for the mutant to stop creeping forward. "Jenkins release your captive and we'll talk about what happened."

"Stop talking to me like I'm a child." Abe snapped spittle flying from his mouth onto his hostage. "I didn't want to do this I was forced to."

"By who?" Luke asked.

"An alien biological computer." Abe answered hoping that Luke would understand. That hope was shattered with Cage's next comment.

"Yea right, of course you were. Release the hostage and I'll make sure you get help for your delusional behaviour."

"The only delusional person around here is you." Melissa yelled before spotting Logan crawl forward. "Try it mutie and your head says sayonara from your body."

"Calm down." Abe yelled, "I'm releasing the hostage." he added removing his arm from her waist. The hostage immediately kicked him and ran towards Luke before wrapping her arms around him.

"It's okay Miss." Luke announced as Abe stuck the knife in the ground and held his hands above his head. "You did the right thing Abe but you're still going back to the Raft."

"You're wrong on both accounts." Abe replied, "I'm not going back and I didn't do the right thing. I'm sorry Luke." Wolverine took a sniff of air and snarled, "Luke I know that sent, it's different but it clearly is Sa…" The rest of Logan's words were lost as Melissa swooped down on him and smacked him with a sonic baseball bat, the blow sending Logan flying out of town. Luke looked down at the woman and saw tendrils snake from her back and strike at him sending electricity coursing down his spine. "What the hell is this thing?" he snarled as he threw Diana backwards.

"Alien bio-organic computer." Abe deadpanned as Diana morphed her hand and fired a volley of incendiary shots at Luke before Melissa intervened and ran a beam of sonic energy from each hand through Cage's head. The former Power Man collapsed with a thud and the Thunderbolts breathed a sigh of relief.

"What the hell was that?" Abe asked as he and Melissa headed off towards the town centre, Diana in hot pursuit.

"Sonic knockout beam." Melissa replied, "It's a bit brutal but it did the job, the only side effect is temporary memory loss. He should come round in a few hours by which time we will either be in the Raft or on the road far from here."

"Well there is no denying it now, we're felons once again." Abe added as Melissa gave him a sonic propelled boost over the wall of the high school and into the war torn streets of Burton Canyon. Fifteen minutes later the Thunderbolts had relocated to the house that Melissa and Abe shared and they hurriedly begun to pack up shop. Stalking down to the basement Abe looked at the new set of armor he had been building. Originally designed for the government, the suit on the same level of technology as the Beetle Mk 2 suit or would be if he ever finished it. Now that he was going on the run that day looked even more remote then it had when he had started it.

"Abe." Melissa yelled from upstairs with a voice that caused the entire house to shake. "We have company." Abe quickly flicked on the security screen installed in the room and saw what Melissa meant. Camped outside the house were Ms. Marvel and the Thing, both of them looking unsure whether to knock or simply level the house. "We can't take them both." he answered, "If we had more time then we can be out of here."

"What about the remaining suit of armor?" Diana asked as she trotted into the basement. "What if it was to reactivate and start attacking them?"

"It's an idea." Melissa replied, her voice sounding only in Abe's head, "But I don't like the attack part. All we need to do is draw them away."

"Go for it." Abe ordered, "Send the suit east a couple of clicks to the suburbs and activate the non lethal counter measures only. It should buy us a few minutes." Diana smiled and extended a tendril into the computer, binary number sequences scrolling across her eyes before retracting the digit. "It's done but I still have concerns about our escape."

"Oh brother." Melissa replied, once again speaking with a direct sound beam. "What is the problem now?" Diana either had been included in the last sound beam or had somehow intercepted the broadcast because she turned to look for the speaker before turning back to Abe. "It's about you're transport, it will be too easily traced, the watchers outside will already have made a not of the random number and letter pattern on the front."

"She's right." Melissa stated this time speaking directly as she walked through the garage door. "Hate to admit it but the evil computer makes another very good point."

"I've got that covered." Abe announced. Seconds later a thunderous buzzing sound filled the air and the Beetle Mk 3 armor arrived hovering over the house before firing a few blaster rounds at the Avengers. Before the Heros could retaliate the suit flew off before hovering about a kilometre away and firing again. "Luke we are under fire from Jenkins. Luke, Luke." Ms Marvel called. "Avengers this is Danvers the Beetle just flew past and is headed east towards the badlands. Bobbi take Victoria and secure the house, everyone else hunt down that suit and extract Jenkins from it. Danvers out." Seconds later she was flying off in pursuit of the Mk 3 suit with the Thing lumbering along behind her.

"Well that give's us some breathing room." Melissa sighed. "What did you say about the ride out of here?"

"I have a second car registered to a false persona in a private garage just down the road." Abe admitted, "Just in case something like this happened."

"Not that I'm not revelling in your foresight." Melissa stated her voice beginning to oscillate as she talked. "But where did you get the money from? Did you start crapping gold coins out of that armoured butt of yours?"

"The Thunderbolt Emergency Fund." Abe answered, "I took money out just in case we needed it, which we do."

"But Zemo and Fixer drained the reserve when we decided to be bona-fide Heros." Melissa stated. "Or did they?"

"They took the fall for it." Abe explained, "But I stole the money. I saw what was happening, that you, Erik and I were beginning to enjoy the lifestyle and I knew that Zemo would never allow us to live in peace."

"So you stole the money, you stole from me and then lied to my face when we were blaming Zemo and Fixer." Melissa screeched, the room buckling with sonic energy. "Is there anything else you decided to keep hidden from me?" she hissed at Abe and Diana slipped out of the door and headed back upstairs into the house. The sounds of conflict followed her and Diana decided to get out of the 'hot zone', she was new to the whole team thing but even she knew that it wasn't going well. As she neared the front door she detected a dull thump and bent down placing her hand on the floor feeling the vibrations from downstairs run up her arm. Melissa and Abe were still fighting so they weren't the cause of the sound. Returning to a standing position Diana turned to see the door disintegrate in-front of her as a blonde woman dressed in blue and white swung through the door and kicked her in the face, the blow twisting her head to a painful angle. With a sickening twist Diana snapped her neck back to its normal position and ducked under a staff swing as the home intruder swung a metal pole at her. The third blow however, connected with her chest with such force that she doubled over in pain before a forth blow made contact hitting her in the neck. Diana felt the pressure and collapsed, closing her eyes as the blow hit her shutdown node causing her body to sit and reboot, in five minutes she would be up and running again but that was five minutes too long.

Abe was angry, Melissa was pushing all his buttons, what he had done was in the past so long ago that they had been completely different people. For some reason Melissa thought otherwise and had turned the whole thing into a grand betrayal. He had seen Diana sneak out a couple of minutes ago so when he heard footsteps on the stairs he dismissed it as her. Melissa didn't and turned in time to see Mockingbird step over the threshold ready for action.

"Surrender and you can continue with your marital tiff." the blonde avenger announced, "I won't judge if you do."

"We are not married." Melissa screeched springing into action before landing on Mockingbird's outthrust staff in an attempt to disarm her. Abe went to reach for the long handed spanner on the work bench when something cold rested on his neck. Dropping the spanner Abe crouched down and put his hand's behind his back, hovering over him was Osborne's one time squeeze Victoria Hand. "It's so nice of you to surrender before me." Hand purred. Abe smiled before pushing himself up with his hands, his legs kicking her weapon away. The move he had used had been a little something Melissa had taught him in exchange for flying lessons and it had left Hand stunned, Abe went in for a quick sleeper punch but his opponent had enough sense to drop and dodge grabbing the dropped spanner and slam the tool into his groin. Abe stumbled backwards and saw that Mockingbird was still struggling with Melissa over the battle stave. He guessed Diana was neutralized already or she would have come and investigated the disturbance from the basement. Hanging onto the workbench he grabbed one of the wing blades from his newest set of armor and slashed out, the sharpened tip slicing through the spanner, the weighted haft clanging on the floor followed by a massive thump as Melissa was thrown across the room to lie at Abe's feet.

"She's a lot stronger then everyone says." Melissa stated as Abe helped her back onto her feet before handing her the wing blade. "Looks like we're not going to get out of here without a fight."

"You take the hero." Abe suggested, "I'll take the accountant." he added reaching behind for a gauntlet on the same work top. Aggressively he lunged forward as Victoria reached for her rifle, raising the gun just in time as Abe made contact with the weapon, electricity arching from the glove across the barrel, the intensity of the blast melting the barrel. Victoria didn't wait for Abe's next attack and slugged him in the nose, dropping her weapon before continuing her counter attack with a throw knocking Abe into a rack of power tools. Rising to his feet Abe lashed out again this time using his exposed hand, the blow connecting with Victoria's jaw before being kicked back as his opponent removed a syringe and advanced on him. With a lunge she was on him as he blocked her attack, Abe felt the needle in Victoria's hand and pressed her hand down into her thigh. Moments later the syringe feel to the floor as Abe caught Victoria and laid her on the floor. Melissa and Mockingbird were still fighting and it was clear from the clash of wrestling moves vs. trained martial art skills that eventually Mockingbird would triumph simply by having a more economical fighting style. Rushing to the workbench Abe grabbed the second gauntlet and slipped it on before loading a spanner into the launcher mechanism and took aim.

"Melissa yield." he yelled and Melissa not even looking round dropped to the floor as Mockingbird swung her staff, the blow sweeping over her head. Abe fired and the spanner accelerated towards Mockingbird's head before striking her on the left temple. Swinging round the Avenger glowered at him not noticing the sonic binds crawling up her legs. Taking a single constricted step Mockingbird plummeted face first into the concrete floor, her nose broken by the floor. Straining she tried to rise as Melissa grabbed her by the hair and slammed her face into the floor again, the second blow knocking her out. "Talk about a girl fight." she wheezed as Abe pulled her off Mockingbird. "Thanks for the help."

"So I'm forgiven?" Abe asked as he removed the gauntlet he was wearing.

"Don't push it." Melissa replied as Diana arrived at the doorway looking groggy and down-trodden. "Okay I'm not happy about any of this but I trust you we need to get out of here and now."

"And I just thought of a decoy that might just help us." Abe said looking at the pair of downed Avengers.

Iron Fist and Spiderman stood at the free-way entrance, from what they had heard the Beetle armor was down after only a few minutes. Still the fact that Luke, Logan, Bobbi and Victoria hadn't called in was a little unnerving. Looking around he saw a massive Ford Taurus thunder towards them and he held out a hand for the driver to stop. As the vehicle slowed he walked over as the driver wound down the window to reveal a striking African-American Woman, her bald head wrapped in a bandanna while her hazel eyes sparkled in the setting sun.

"Licence Ma'am." Danny asked. "And Id for everyone inside."

"Sure thing." the woman replied handing him a set of ID cards. Her voice had a Connecticut accent and judging from her confident tone she was in no way phased by the stop by a well known hero. "Okay Ms. Cox you check out." Danny announced, "Can you ask Mr Jensen to drop his window so I can check his ID." Cox nodded and her passenger wound down the window to reveal a lean man with long brown hair and several days' worth of stubble staring back with big blue eyes. Jensen was born in Florida judging from his licence and as soon as he answered Danny's questions he showed it with his accent. Danny caught the glimpse of a goth girl sitting in the back typing on an I-Phone and checked the last ID to see the woman's face on the plastic card, the image shown as Jensen's sister.

"Okay you're clear." Danny mumbled, "We're just checking cars to make sure two dangerous fugitives don't escape the town."

"Well I hope you catch them." Cox replied and started her engine before driving away. The next car along in the row came barrelling along and Danny saw two silhouettes inside the Pontiac's front seats. Staring at the registration number he saw that it matched the car registered to Jenkins and motioned for Spiderman to spring into action. With a quick spray of webbing on the road the Pontiac stalled, now trapped in the adhesive. Opening the door Danny saw that the driver and passenger weren't who he thought they were. In the driver's seat was Bobbi while Victoria was in the passenger seat. Both of the women were seat-belted in and both were sleeping although the bruises they both supported suggested they had been in a fight. Stuck to Bobbi's head was a posit note and Danny removed it from the now snoring Mockingbird. Reading it aloud he remained cool and composed even at the end. "Dear Avengers. We are taking an extended vacation and won't be back for some time. While we won't send a postcard rest assured we will contact you later. For now have a great summer and keep those guys at the Raft in check. Love the Thunderbolts. P.S. you can keep the car just clean up the puddle of puke Victoria left in the foot well."

Spiderman swung over and stared at the sleeping Avengers. "And there's me without my camera." he lamented as Danny removed Mockingbird from the driver's seat before going back to traffic duty.

"They brought it." Jensen told Cox as she continued to drive west.

"Of course." Cox replied, "And now we're free."

* * *

**Epilouge**

Bar with no Name, New York

Marion sat by the bar looking down at the shot of Jack that she had brought long enough ago for the whisky to get warm. For some reason she didn't feel like drinking tonight and the usual crowd of scum seemed a little lacklustre. It didn't help the fact that three government suits, two men and a woman, were pocking round. The bartender looked round and tapped her on the shoulder before pointing to the back room. Wearily she got up and walked over, she didn't feel like messing around today and who ever wanted to see her was in for a rough night. Closing the door behind her she saw her contact standing in the corner, his face hidden in shadow.

"You are Ms. Marion Pouncey also know as Poundcakes?" he asked, his foreign accent doing nothing to raise Marion's enthusiasm.

"Yeah that's me but I prefer Tremor these days. Poundcakes made me sound fat so I changed the name and slimmed down."

"I have an opportunity for you. I presume you are familiar with a woman called Melissa Gold?"

"Little Missy, I used to know that bitch, now I just feel like slamming her head under my boot. Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to kill her." her contact announced, "Her and the other Thunderbolts are enemies of mine. Are you interested in my offer?"

"Work with you." Tremor stated, "It would be my pleasure, you have such a high calibre in the Underworld."

"Good." the man said stepping out of the shadows to reveal a man dressed in purple leather with even his face covered by a mask decorated with a crown while a sheathed sword hung on his belt. "Welcome to the Masters of Evil." he hissed as he opened a bottle of wine, pouring two flutes of the blood red liquid before handing a glass to Tremor. "To the death of the Thunderbolts." he added raising his glass in a toast, "Long may they suffer at the hands of Zemo."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #5**

The Thunderbolts are forced into action as the theft of potential bio-weapons locks down the town they are staying in. Desperate to escape unnoticed and with a deadly thief on the loose how will the Thunderbolts stay hidden and save the day before something sinister occurs.


	6. Something Sinister - Part I

"And finally we have confirmed sightings of the three escaped fugitives known as the Thunderbolts in New Mexico were they stole an undisclosed amount of Aluminium Ingots. The team's whereabouts is as of yet unknown." Lazily the man in the arm-chair reached for the remote and turned off the news as he blinked in the twilight that the tea-lights scattered around the living room created. While he didn't look like much Dr. Neil Wren was at the cutting edge of his field and peering at the clock he noted the time and stumbled towards the kitchen. His head pounded and personally he blamed his co-worker Leslie, the pair of them had been celebrating his latest discovery with several bottles of wine, the empty vessels clumsily shoved in the recycling bin. Leslie was still there sleeping on the table, naked save the black bra and panties and Nathan realized that save for his boxers he was in a similar state of dress.

"Some coffee should help solve this problem." he mumbled reaching for the kettle. As he grasped the handle, the earth begun to shake and Nathan collapsed, crawling on all floors to the table and grabbing Leslie before taking shelter in the open doorway. The ground kept rattling for a further twenty seconds before stopping, Nathan wasn't overly bothered he had been a student at the University of Los Angeles and earthquakes were commonplace there although he hadn't expected such a thing in Newcastle, Colorado. As he stood he placed the still sleeping Leslie onto the sofa back in the Living Room the sprinklers activated causing her to wake up with a splutter.

"I thought you had these things fixed last week." she yelled wrapping a sodden blanket round her shoulders.

"I did." Neil growled, "My god the cure." Desperately he half ran and half slid to his lab and put his hand on the glass windows, the doors were time-locked, he sure as hell wasn't getting in. Whatever the case the cure had been in a cylinder rimmed with vials on the main work surface, and while the cylinder was still present, it was cracked open and his precious cure was draining into a puddle on the floor with the water running off into a crack on the floor. Neil banged hopelessly on the window desperate to get through the reinforced cure as the last drops of the cure went down the drain.

Across town another man stirred in his sleep, his dark hair framing his clean shaven face as he opened his eyes. He was alone in his room at one of a number of a seedy motel he and his friends had been staying at on their travels. Walking to the window he looked out to see police cars rush past heading for one of the houses in the hills. The police made him feel nervous and he pulled on a jumper and walked to the door looking out through the spy hole to see a busty blonde, her breast barley contained by the black leather bustier while her arms decorated with tattoos of ivy morphing into barbed wire running up to a dove on each shoulder. Opening the door she stalked in, the black platform boots she was wearing giving her an extra six inches of height. Closing the door she reached to his face and he went for hers before pulling the synthetic masks off to reveal their true faces.

"Abe I'm worried." the woman announced as she flew a fleck of pink hair from in front of her eyes. "I have been hearing sirens for the past twenty minutes."

"Don't worry Mel they said on the news that we're in New Mexico, not Newcastle." the man replied sitting on the end of the bed. "Besides we can't leave until the morning, all we have to do is keep heading north and we can probably slip into Canada and restart our lives."

"Can we really do that?" Melissa asked

"Well do you really want to keep fighting super villains who are out to kill us, do you want to run the possibility of loosing somebody that you love?" Abe asked. "We should have quit the business a long time ago."

"You're right." Melissa sighed, "Thanks for that." she added.

"Love the look by the way Mel." Abe announced as she turned back towards the door, her body swaying seductively as she went back to her room.

"That's it I'm changing masks again next time we're on the road." Melissa purred as she reached for the door handle. "So make the most of it while it's around." Abe grinned and grabbed her from behind before kissing her on the neck. "Oh don't worry 'Melody' I will." he replied as they both toppled backwards into the bed.

Abe opened his eyes once again and looked over to see Melissa curled up in a nest of blankets as the alarm clock reached seven thirty and started beeping before being sonically swatted off the stand. Silently the pair of Thunderbolts got dressed, their backs to each other until it got time to put their ID masks on. Turning to face each other they watched as the familiar features were swallowed up by the faces of strangers. Still in silence they headed for the dinner across the street scanning the crowd for anyone they recognized. Reclining outside the restaurant was a gothic young woman dressed in dark purple jeans and a tank top playing on her I-Pod, a normal sight unless you knew the woman was a biological super-computer.

"Morning Diana." Melissa chirped as the Goth followed them in. "How did you sleep?"

"Okay I suppose." Diana replied, "I decided to randomly generate my own dreams tonight. They were interesting."

"Let me guess there was a boomerang throwing coyote and an impossibly fast Roadrunner again" Abe suggested. "That one seems to be recurring dream especially when you watch cartoons late at night." Diana shot him a sneer before the group sat down in the booth and picked up menus as one of the waitress trotted over.

"What are you folks having?" she asked tapping a pencil against a pad of stained paper.

"Two orange juices and a black coffee." Melissa answered, her words accompanied with the scribbling of an order being written down.

"Hey does that guy look familiar?" Abe asked jabbing a finger towards the man emerging from the toilet. Melissa looked and saw that the 'guy' in question had shoulder length blonde hair and was wearing a chequered shirt and blue jeans with worn trainers finishing off the image of a back-road cowboy. Still Abe was right the face looked familiar yet she couldn't place it. Her musings were shattered when the door to the dinner opened and a unit of police officers walked in. Almost immediately she tensed up until either Diana or Abe on the other side of the booth kicked her.

"Okay we have some bad news for you." one of the officers announced. "There was a robbery in the early hours of this morning and a vial of experimental drugs was stolen. We still believe the person responsible is still in town due to the way the theft occurred so we're setting up cordons along the highways out of here. We're sorry for any inconvenience but only your assistance can help us speed up the process. If anybody knows anything comes to the local Sheriff's office and we'll do what we can." he finished. "Again we're sorry for any inconvenience but it is essential that the chemical is found." With a nod to the man at the till the officers retreated and the dinner erupted into conversation, loud enough to drown out the Thunderbolt's conversation.

"This is just great." Abe hissed as Melissa kicked him back on the shin. "We're stuck here now."

"Well we can't stay." Melissa replied, "If they look too hard who knows what they'll find."

"Well we could help them find the chemical." Abe said cautiously. "Without them actually knowing it was us of course."

"You said to drop the heroics last night." Melissa hissed as Diana bobbed her head from one to the other. "Now you want us to start up again."

"This is survival not heroics." Abe lectured, "It's different. We're already being blamed for a heist down in New Mexico; I don't want them to add this to the list of our offences as well."

"Fine but on your head be it." Melissa snorted folding her arms together as the waitress brought them their drinks. "So where do we start?" she asked.

"I've already started while you were arguing." Diana said smugly, "I remotely hacked into the police database and watched the security footage of the crime and then copied it to my hard-drive."

"Oh god." Melissa groaned, "You were careful right?"

"Hacking through the fire-walls was child's play." Diana answered. "Once we've finished breakfast I'll download it to Abe's laptop and you can watch as well. Right now I feel like cinnamon waffles."

Abe and Melissa watched the cleaned up footage of the theft of the chemical for the fifth time, watching as the water swept away the chemical from the vials, all of which seemed to have been cracked open by the earthquake that had happened only a few minutes before. They had also watched footage from the rest of the house and had identified Dr. Neil Wren and had deduced that the stolen chemical were vials of an experimental flu vaccine that the doctor had created.

"Okay I heard it that time." Melissa announced, "There is a weird acoustic as the shaking starts. I know I've heard it before but I still can't put my finger on it."

"We know that Dr. Wren had his sprinklers fixed a few days before." Abe deduced, "What if the thieves rigged them to go off when the earthquake cracked the vials?"

"Well that suggests that our thieves could either trigger the quake or were very geologically savvy." Melissa finished for him.

"You know I've seen the footage the cameras shot a few days ago of the repair men that were sent." Diana announced, "Eddie and Axel judging from their name tags. The only problem is that Axel goes back to the truck alone, Eddie as far as I can tell stayed on the premises. I can bring up their faces if you want?" she added sweetly.

"You're evil." Abe stated before handing her the computer as Diana extended a USB cable into the device. After a few awkward moments of interaction she retracted the wire and handed the computer back, the screen of the laptop showing two stills of the repairmen. Melissa realized that the guy in the diner that Abe had recognized was Axel, that one of the potential thieves had been only meters away from the police and slipped away unnoticed. Looking over at Abe she saw him squinting at the images before putting his hand over his mouth.

"You know who that is." Melissa stated, "Spill."

"The reason that Eddie didn't leave with Axel was due to him being in the sprinklers." Abe announced watching as realization creped over Melissa's face. "Eddie is really Hydroman. He stayed in the sprinklers and when the quake went off he squeezed into the lab absorbed the vaccine and went down the crack into the sewers."

"That would explain the harmonic and why we thought Axel looked familiar." Melissa added. "Who do we know who A has connections with Hydroman and B can create a designer earthquake."

"Shocker damm it." Abe cursed, "I hope that thick piece of crap would stay on the straight and narrow."

"So we know who are thieves are but we still have a problem." Melissa interrupted, "Hydroman and Shocker are just Mercs, they probably have been hired by someone who wants the vaccine for themselves. For all we know Bench had already swum the cure out to them."

"He hasn't." Abe announced getting to his feet. "If that were the case then they wouldn't be here. I say we catch them and see if we can extract the location of the vaccine and the names of their employers."

"And I know just how we can do it." Diana said with an evil grin as she turned to look at Melissa.

Abe and Diana stalked after the couple infront of them, sticking to the shadows as the suicide blonde shivered visibly in the cool of the evening. Abe had to hand it to Diana; she had figured out that it was easier to get Shocker to talk to an attractive woman rather then a gathering of irate super-powered outlaws such as himself. He had chosen to wear his prototype armor, the hardened carapace offering some protection from whatever Shocker could throw at him. Diana had also suited up, deciding for a skin-tight black bodysuit that made Abe think of Seven of None from Star Trek. As for Melissa, she was stuck in a tiny leather tank-top and skirt as well as her platform boots from earlier. Abe felt sorry for her especially when she shivered either from being embraced by Schultz or from the cold north wind. Eventually Shocker stopped outside a construction site and whispered something in Melissa's ear and she giggled before watching as he disappeared inside. Looking around she gestured nervously before squeezing in after him.

"Okay remember we need Shocker alive and able to talk." Abe told Diana, "As for Hydroman well." he shrugged, "Be as rough as you want."

"Are you telling me or yourself?" Diana asked, "You have history with them I know I looked at your SHIELD file when we were watching 'Melody' over there flirt with Shocker."

"Figured you might do that." Abe grunted as he reached the place where Melissa and Shocker had squeezed through. "Find anything interesting?"

"You and Melissa." Diana whispered before slithering through the hole, her form flowing over the wooden panel like liquid, "Made a cute couple." Abe cracked a smile before heading through the hole himself. The construction site on the other side was pretty standard although it looked like somebody had done some digging. Possibly Shocker creating access holes for Hydroman although somehow Abe doubted it. Up ahead he heard Shocker curse and picked up speed as Diana gave the pile of dirt one last look and hurried after him. Reaching the Forman's Office Abe saw Shocker bleeding as Melissa stood over the slumped villain giving him swift kicks to the chest.

"For the last time lady I'm not telling you where it is." Shocker snarled grabbing Melissa's legs and pushing her away. He looked over to where Abe and Diana were standing and cracked his knuckles. "Who are these you're back up dancers?"

"Surrender Schultz." Abe commanded, "You don't have you're suit so don't make it hard on yourself. Tell us where the vaccine is and we'll be lenient on you."

"Lenient. Who the hell are you? Even without my suit I'm more then a match for some bumpkins in Spandex."

"One last chance Shultz don't make me set Sky Lark on you." Abe warned pointing at Melissa as Shocker picked up a dropped pickaxe.

"After tonight they'll make me a honorary member of the Wrecking Crew." Shocker sneered. "They'll call me Pickaxe or something like that."

"You asked for it Schultz. You and Bench are going down and then we're going after you're employers too." Abe said sternly unholstering the wing-blade sword.

"Me and Bench." Shocker roared. "You're fucked if you think it's the two of us." Behind Abe the recently excavated sand exploded and the armoured form of the Scorpion erupted from the dirt slamming Abe to the ground before throwing him to lie at Shocker's feet. "I've got an entire Sinister Syndicate at my back. By the end of the night we'll be burying three no-name hero's right under where you're standing.

* * *

Thunderbolts #6

It's the Thunderbolts vs. Shocker, Scorpion and Hydroman and that's just half of the Sinister Syndicate. Just who are there employers and what do they want with a super vaccine to the common flu? Find out in the next Issue.

* * *

Reviews/Comments left by Readers

**Capyle **wrote;

**A nice story taking place between issues of the ongoing series. The story flows and there's a good narrative voice. I like seeing Songbird and Mach V in the spotlight again too.**

Thank you for the really positive review. As for Songbird and MACH V (or Skylark and Iridium as they are now using) being the focus of the story, I find that they and as a whole the entire Thunderbolts cast is underused. I also personally find the Dark Avengers thing really tedious, of all the characters I only really like Songbird, MACH V and Ai Apaec, and they don't get enough face time, a fact that I plan to remedy. Again many thanks.

Impurest Cheese

For everyone else out there, please comment, query or critic I look forward to all reviews, be they positive like the one above or otherwise.


	7. Something Sinister - Part II

Melissa watched as Shocker raised the pickaxe above his head and marvelled about how time seemed to slow down. Abe was in a compromising position, with the Scorpion crushing his legs he couldn't escape so it was up to her to rescue him. Dashing forwards Melissa intercepted the pick as it fell towards its intended victim, grabbing hold of the blade in both hands and sending waves of sonic energy coursing through the tool, the head shattering as time returned to its normal speed. With a sonically powered throw she knocked Shocker backwards before turning on Scorpion and sending waves of energy at him, the sonic tide propelling the fragments of the pickaxe like shrapnel into the villain's face causing him to recoil. In that split second Abe shifted and escaped before getting to his feet as the Scorpion yelled in furry lashing out with the massive claws he wore on his forearms, the former Thunderbolt knocking both his targets to the floor.

"That was almost too easy." Mac Gangran sneered as Shocker staggered to his feet and grabbed Melissa by the neck. "Guess you haven't done the whole hero thing for very long. Either that or you never played in the big leagues." On his last word his tail snaked forward and hovered over Abe, the lethal point poised and ready to plunge through the armor and directly into his heart. The strike never came though as a sudden burst of electricity coursed through the villain's armor causing him to spasm backwards. Wheeling around he saw the culprit, in the split second Melissa had disarmed Shocker everybody had forgotten about Diana and she had used that window to get the drop on the Syndicate as she fired a second burst of electrified pellets into the Scorpion as Abe got to his feet and slammed his fist into Shocker's face causing him to drop Melissa.

"Who the fuck are you guys?" Shocker moaned as he held his bleeding nose while the Scorpion looked form Melissa and Abe to Diana unsure of whom to strike first.

"I'm the Revenant." Diana informed him. "And we're offering you one last chance to…" She stopped as a watery tendril wrapped round her and dragged her towards a shaft in the ground. The Scorpion smiled, his decision made and lashed out at the Thunderbolts behind him with his tail, his targets ducking under the blow. "I'll deal with Mac Gangran." Melissa yelled as she spread a pair of sonic wings, the blue light created replacing the usual pink glow. "You just deal with Shocker." she added as the Scorpion lashed out again, the blow being easily evaded by the now airborne 'Sky Lark'. Abe nodded and vaulted a pile of bricks as his target picked up a nail-gun and squeezed the trigger, sharpened nails ricocheting off the steel structure of the building, the piles of bricks and a few even scratching his armor's surface, but none coming close to penetrating the hardened carapace. As the last couple of nails flew through the air Abe grabbed Shocker by the throat and pulled him close.

"You should have stayed with the Thunderbolts." Abe growled, "You ruined you're last chance to redeem yourself."

"I'm still trying to do that." Shocker sneered back, "Only problem is the only wanker who believed in me went ape-shit and destroyed an entire town, so I'm back in the lurch again."

"You should have tried harder." Abe told him before slamming Shocker head first through the window of the Forman's portacabin. Turning back he saw Mac Gangran scaling the skeleton of the building as Melissa flew through the forest of girders and pipes, occasionally firing orbs of blue energy at the pursuing villain. Diana was holding her own too, Hydroman had emerged from the drop-shaft and was attacking with frozen fists shaped like bladed cudgels and hammers, only to have his weapons shattered by blasts of his target's weaonized arm. Abe decided that Diana could hold her own and rushed after Melissa and Mac Gangran when he heard a familiar sound of blasters charging to maximum power, he looked up just in time to see a new target open fire, the beams of energy glassing the area where he had just been standing. As the shooter dropped down to the ground Abe recognized her, the armor she wore was almost identical to his old Mk. 2 suit, he had heard rumours of a mercenary piloting his suit and now he knew they were true. "So," he yelled at the woman as she begun to charge the suit's blasters again. "Who are you meant to be?"

"I'm the Beetle and you and your friends will pay for interfering in our business."

"I bet." Abe announced and started running towards the super-structure as the beams flew past and blasted a hole through Hydroman and the wall behind him. Diana took a second too long to respond and felt the icy cold hammer smash on her head, the blow causing her to stagger as Bench surged forward like a tsunami, grabbing her and dragging her back towards the shaft. Fighting against the wave Diana unleashed a discharge of heat from her body causing part of the surge to evaporate in a cloud of steam. With a roar that sounded like the very ocean depths erupting Hydroman rose up five meters before coming slamming down towards Diana, the Thunderbolt standing her ground as he fell, the force of the water causing her to flicker and dissipate into a puddle of photons and static.

"Huh what the." Bench muttered before seeing Diana slip under a low beam and onto one of the scaffolding towers. "Don't get comfortable I'm coming to get you."

Shocker moaned as he stirred in the Forman's office, he was bloody, bruised and beaten. Despite his earlier analysis on the group of heros, he had to admit that they knew there stuff. Crawling to the window he saw his boss, the Beetle pursue the armoured guy through the super-structure of the main building. Shocker groaned if she found out that he'd messed up he'd be in hot water. Turning around he almost jumped out of his skin as he saw the figure standing in the darkened corner.

"Your uniform and weapons." the figure announced, "We had a feeling that you might want them."

"Yeah you sneaky fuck." Shocker spat, "Now why don't you get out of here and help the others." He turned to look at Hydroman repeatedly slamming the scaffolding as one of the women fired down at him, her hands morphed into blasters, the blazing shots evaporating holes in his body. Turning back he saw that the shadowy form had once again vanished. "I fucking hate it when he does that." he moaned before pulling the shades down over the remains of the window as he got ready to reenter the frey.

Mac Gangran matched his prey's agile leaps and dives among the super-structure of the incomplete building. Frankly he found the chase boring and the prey even more so, the woman he was chasing reminded him a lot of Songbird although the dress sense of this one completely ruled out that goody two-shoes as his intnded victim. As he dodged a swinging girder, knocked loose by 'Sky Lark', he noticed the tactical error she had made. All the jumping and gliding had led her into the heart of the building and with the right modifications the thick girders could easily become a cage for her. With a laugh that was half crazy cackle and half feral growl the Scorpion fired, blasts of acid spraying from his tail and chewing through the weakest points of the girders he was aiming at until gravity sent them falling towards the seemingly neophyte hero. Sneering Mac Gangran watched a smile creep on his opponent's face, one that made shivers run down his spine as blue energy formed around her before blossoming outwards sending the girders flying towards him. With a snarl Mac ran along the falling beams and lunged at his prey knocking her off the perch and out of the structure as the weakened girders fell around him, cageing him in his own trap.

Melissa fell propelled by the impact of the Scorpion slamming her before slowing herself with sonic wings until she touched down on a pile of masonry. "Talk about bringing down the house." she stated as Mac Gangran's roars sounded from inside the steel skeleton. He would escape but it would take some time, time that Melissa was going to use too turn the tables on the Syndicate and find where they had stashed the vial. Taking to the air again she heard a whistling sound and looked back to see a volley of thrown bricks come flying towards her. Reversing direction she flew through the hail of projectiles until she discovered who was responsible. She groaned when she caught sight of the mystery thrower, dashing from brick pile to brick pile was Speed Demon. Melissa shouldn't have been surprised as soon as Shocker had mentioned the Sinister Syndicate she had guessed that Sanders had been involved and now she had been proved right. Finally out of bricks Speed Demon stopped for a few seconds and Melissa saw what looked like a chemical vial attached to his belt. Grimacing she landed and put her hands up before sighing, "You got me I surrender."

"Really." Sanders said arching an eyebrow, "And why's that?"

"Because you're the sexy Speed Demon." Melissa purred. She was gambling that between Sander's naturally horny attitude and her revealing attire that honeyed words and ample bosom would achieve more then fists and sonic blasts.

"Wait there." Sanders ordered as he rushed off before returning in under a second a red rose in his hand. "For you." he said handing it to Melissa. Grinning she took it and slotted it between her teeth hoping that Sanders would come a little closer. Falling for the bait Speed Demon embraced her and Melissa spat out the rose and kissed him as a sonic pair of scissors cut his belt and let the vial roll off under one of the now empty brick pallets. Her seduction complete Melissa drew back and beckoned for Sanders to come closer once again. Cocking his head Sanders walked forward before getting an elbow in the face, the blow sending him skidding along the ground.

"I'm not that easy." Melissa growled as Sanders skidded past an exposed re-bar and grabbed hold using the pole to slow himself. "I'd never…" the rest of her words were cut off as Sanders slammed into her and turned off towards the building skeleton using her as a scantily clad hood ornament. Melissa tensed up as she felt the first girder strike her the pain still burning as she hit the second, the third up until the thirteenth when it became too much as she begun to black-out, darkness clouding her eyes. Desperately she reached out with her powers and formed a sonic trip wire hoping that Sanders would get caught, with a twang and a sudden jerk she found herself flying before crashing out the other side of the construction site as Speed Demon tripped, the final blow knocking her out of the fight.

Abe and the Beetle watched as Sanders dashed past, briefly united in a moment of craziness for a second before they resumed their battle through the base of the structure. It had come down to hand to hand combat and Abe knew just where to hit his female opponent, with a couple of punches he had targeted the arm joints, slowing her strikes, and while she was still getting some blows in it was mostly one sided. Behind him the soil rumbled and Abe dodged left as the Scorpion re-emerged from the earth again, sailing past him and colliding with the Beetle, his heavily armoured form rolling her over and over until he had cleared her. Spitting with rage Mac Gangran turned and slashed at Abe who ducked underneath, the blow hitting one of the support beams with a defining thud. Gripping his wing-blade Abe slashed back, the blow before being parried by the Scorpion's tail with enough force to send the sword spinning towards where the Beetle was standing, her blaster's charging up. As she oppened fire Abe dodged right and the beam of energy went through the post that the Scorpion had weakened causing the scaffolding to creak before collapsing in on itself.

"Oh crap." Abe yelled before barrelling past the Beetle who just stood there stunned at what was happening. Seconds later Abe could hear crashing steel behind him and saw Mac Gangran following, slamming through the remaining posts in a feral bid to capture his prey. Abe cleared the crash zone and turned charging the arm mounted grenade launcher and choosing a 'glob round' before firing at the Scorpion's face causing him to stall, blinded by the adhesive gel. Tearing at the gel Mac Gangran while spitting and cursing he never realized that he was crushed under a building when it fell on him; Abe looked on and hoped that Mac had survived; Gangran was a tough old basted so it was fully possible that he was unhurt save for his ego. Turning he saw Diana leap from a scaffolding and pass through Hydroman before landing on the other side. Lying between them on the floor was Melissa and standing over her was Speed Demon, Abe yellded before thndering towards the Speedster oblivious to the fact he'd never catch him. As he cleared half the distance a blast of energy struck him and he fell as Shocker walked up to him. "That's for shoving me through a window." Schultz yelled before firing a close range blast causing Abe to fade into unconsciousness. "And that's because I feel like It." he added as the Beetle landed next to him.

Diana landed on her feet and watched as Abe was taken down by the Shocker. She was grossly outnumbered and while she knew who Shocker and Hydroman were, as well as recognizing the Beetle armor she had no idea about the other two villains as the Scorpion crawled out of the wreckage. Switching off her non-lethal defences she fired, swarms of micro rockets and high energy pulses heading for the Syndicate only to be vaporized as Shocker created a sonic shield of energy to protect his comrades. Diana processed the scene, maybe if she could draw them away Melissa and Abe would recover in time for a second strike. Behind her Hydroman solidified his hand into an ice hammer raising it for a lethal snek attack on her exposed back. Turning just in time Diana opened fire again vaporizing his weapon before fleeing towards a set of scaffolding. Speed Demon stepped forward to give chase but the Beetle raised a hand to block him, "No Sanders let our newest member take care of this, let him prove himself worthy to join our Syndicate."

Diana skidded round behind a portacabin and looked back; the Syndicate were not following meaning her ruse had failed. Cursing under her breath she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and turned to see a tall man covered in orange hair staring at her with feline eyes. Morphing her hand into long bladed fingers Diana lunged and the man dodged her blow before climbing onto the cabin's roof, beckoning for her to follow. Taking three seconds to download a module about unarmed combat Diana followed scaling the wall to the roof effortlessly terminating her climb in a graceful flip into a standing position onto the roof. Her opponent bowed his head before lunging in, claws gleaming in the floodlights, his blow heading for her throat, or where it would have been if she hadn't gracefully spun away from his attack.

"Very good." the man purred. "Now how do you deal with this." his words ended as he sprung into the air his blow once again heading for her position. Diana gave a half smile and let her machine reflexes and downloaded knowledge take over, rolling under her opponents strike and elbowing him in the back before he could retaliate. As she readied the next blow though her sparing partner slid round her unexposed flank and threw her to the floor.

"Rule One." he told her as he helped her up, "Never expose your flanks." Diana nodded and slammed her fist into his nose. As she made contact he sunk his claws into her arm, and while she wasn't programmed to feel pain she cried out any way. "Rule Two, always be aware of you're opponents abilities and how they use them." the cat man lectured throwing her to the other end of the roof. Angrily Diana morphed her hand into a blaster and fired, the shots whizzing through the air as her opponent ran through the hail of projectiles, the blaster bolts seemingly flowing round him. "Rule Three, a clear mind will aid you against the toughest of foes." Diana snarled as she morphed her hand back into bladed talons as the roof suddenly creaked and jets of water erupted from underneath sending her toppling over the edge and onto the ground below. As she rolled to a face up position Diana saw the cat man land on top of her claws extended to rip her face off, behind him Hydroman oozed out of the window and stood his arms ending in frozen cudgels.

"Rule Four enough with the Zen crap Puma we have work to do." Hydroman bellowed, "Either knock her out or I will." he added. Puma sighed and sheathed his claws before pulling back a punch and slamming Diana in the face, the blow sending her processers into shutdown while her body slipped into unconsciousness.

With a groan of pain Abe awoke and found that his hands were bound to a post. Next to him Melissa and Diana were already awake and both were bound and gagged. Standing across from the post was the Sinister Syndicate all of them leering at the captives as the Beetle walked over her blasters levelled at Abe's head.

"We've discussed it and we don't really want to kill you." she told Abe, "Besides my first kill is going to really matter. I don't suppose you've heard of Abner Jenkins, the murderer of my sister and her husband, he will be my first kill but cross us again and I will make an exception." With a quick wave of her hand the Syndicate slunk off dropping down the shaft Hydroman had originally came out of. Seconds later the rope fell to the floor and the Thunderbolts wearily got to their feet as Melissa ripped the gag off her mouth, wincing in pain as she did it.

"You okay?" Abe asked.

"I feel like I was hit by a train." Melissa groaned, "Looks like they got away."

"I don't really want to go after them." Abe moaned as he surveyed the destroyed building site. "I guess we'd have the advantage in a narrow space but it's still two to one."

"We don't have to." Melissa announced, "When I was flirting with Speed Demon I stole a vial which may contain the vaccine."

"Flirting with Sanders?" Abe asked, "Do I really want to know?" Melissa shook her head. "Okay then let's just grab the vial and get out of here, I'm surprised the local authorities haven't investigated yet." he added as the last section of the super structure collapsed with the sound of screeching metal and rapidly approching sirens filled the air along with the massive cloud of dust kicked up by the falling girders.

An hour later the Thunderbolts, now out of costume, limped into the motel. Deciding to deal with the vial in the morning Abe and Melissa went to bed leaving Diana alone in the Diner. Ordering her third cup of black coffee for the night, Diana sat and watched the customers leave, the theft of the chemical still on the majority of their minds judging by snippets of overheard conversation. As midnight came and went Diana continues to search the internet for any information on the Sinister Syndicate's members. At four in the morning she chose to abandon her search and decided it was time to get some sleep, twenty minutes was all her system needed for her body to re-set itself although she enjoyed getting more if she could. As she got up to settle the check she almost missed the scruffy young man come in. Like the remaining customers she ignored him until he walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"There here." he said, "The aliens are here."

"Aliens?" Diana asked nervously, "What aliens?"

"I saw a UFO over the old chemical plant." the man replied, "It looked like a bug and hovered over the building before flying off."

"What's you're name?" Diana asked

"Chris." the man replied, "Do you believe me, the aliens are here to take over and S.W.O.R.D is just going to let them brcause they don't care aboutcommunities such as ours."

"Well Chris buy me a coffee and I'll look at you're footage." Diana said as she led Chris back to the booth she had been sitting at. Twenty minutes later Diana had 'borrowed' Chris's laptop and was watching as the Beetle sped away along the highway. Looking over at the now comatose Chris, his state brought on by a quick puff of tranquilizer gas she hacked into the Route 85s Traffic Cameras and downloaded the images onto her own hard-drive before erasing the computer's entire internet history and stored memory. Shooting Chris a quick smile she slipped out of the Dinner and headed back to the Motel. Arriving back at the room she shared with Melissa she noted that her roommate was absent and set about analyzing hours of traffic camera data, the Beetle could run but she couldn't hide and hopefully would lead them to their employers.

"Abe we were destroyed out there." Melissa told her friend as they sat on the roof of the motel.

"We were outnumbered." Abe replied. "Besides we were up against Sanders, Puma, Hydroman, Schultz, Mac Gangran and the Beetle. Even the Avengers would have a hard time containing them if they couldn't use half their powers."

"You were right." Melissa whispered, "About us continuing the Hero thing. This will be the last time we do this right?"

"What about F.A.C.T?" Abe asked, "Do we let them off the hook after what they did to us?"

"We can't really carry on like this though." Melissa replied.

"I'll sleep on it." Abe announced, "The answer will probably be yes." he added as he walked to the door that led off the roof into the motel.

"Wait Abe." Melissa replied, "What do we do about us?"

"Is there an us?"

"Well last night we hooked up and we shared a bed back in Burton." Melissa announced, "What do we do about that?"

"Do you want there to be an us?" Abe asked. Melissa smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Question answered" he added between kisses as he closed the door.

Abe and Melissa walked down to the dinner, from what they had heard on the radio the police were expanding their cordon, not that it mattered with Speed Demon and the Beetle on the team the Syndicate could have easily rushed the vaccine out of town. Diana was already inside and had ordered a massive breakfast and in contrast to Mel and Abe's haggard faces she looked like she had gotten a good night's sleep.

"Morning." she chirped as she chewed a piece of toast. "Help yourselves to anything you want."

"You look happy." Melissa stated, "Its sickening." she added taking a hash-brown off the plate.

"I know who the Syndicate are dealing with." Diana replied. "All it took was a little help from the aliens." she added.

"Aliens?" Abe said nervously. "What kind of aliens?"

"The nerdy kind." Diana answered, "Some conspiracy nut saw the Beetle leaving town and figured it was an alien. Using the video he took I was able to map a flight plan using highway cameras to track her movements to a compound belonging to Legacy Pharmaceuticals."

"Legacy Pharmaceuticals." Melissa repeated, "Never heard of them."

"That's because despite the quote that they have been in business for twenty years, all the information about the company is faked." Diana replied, "It may not even be a real company."

"The only way we're going to find out is to visit Legacy Pharmaceuticals and do some digging." Abe announced, "So everybody pack you're shovels because I've got a feeling that we're in for a right shit storm."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #7**

The Thunderbolts are heading to Legacy Pharmaceuticals on the search for the vaccine. The only problem is that nothing is what it seems and all the odds are against them as the timer counts down to Something Sinister.


	8. Something Sinister - Part III

The Ford Taurus gently coasted to a stop in the car-park of the Legacy Pharmaceuticals building, a long low flat building crafted out of steel and concrete, an apposing structure squatting on the open plains of Wyoming like a discarded shell left on an ocean of grass. Nervously the young woman, her brunette hair tied into a messy ponytail contrasting with the sleek black business suit she was wearing got out of the car and headed for the visitor entrance. The car-park was buzzing with activity as workers hurriedly filled trucks with large crates while security staff watched over the affair making sure that nothing went wrong. Entering the building the woman vanished, lost in the bowels of the Legacy building seemingly unaware that she had left the rear passenger window of her car open. If anyone had been watching they still wouldn't have noticed the tiny fibre optic cable snaking out of the car but since nobody was the first steps of the Thunderbolt infiltration of the complex went unnoticed.

"She's inside." Diana told Abe as he pulled on the last piece of armor. "Tracking camera ion beams and mapping fields of vision." she added creating a holographic map that displayed the cameras turning and highlighting the areas surveyed in red. "Tapeing a section of test footage for overlap."

"Did you run the simulations for the shot?" Abe asked.

"Affirmative Iridium." Diana replied, "Sending tactical data to you're visor now." A second later Abe's visor lit up with lines and vectors that would lead his chosen projectile to its target, in this case a section of Diana's cyber-neural system to the video wire on the nearest camera. Stepping out of the car Abe aimed the dart rifle that he had purchased from a hunting store and pulled the trigger. He waited for a long ten seconds before Diana gave him the all clear and stepped out of the car herself. "I'm into the video network and plotting the fastest and safest route to the lab. By the looks of it security does rounds every ten minutes so as soon as we get in we have a limited window to get the data we need and get out without being seen."

"And that's just the easy part." Abe grunted. "Melissa is getting the worst of this mission."

Melissa sat in the waiting room and watched the busty receptionist typing in her details, or at least the details of Melody Stern, the new acoustic technician. Thanks to some 'black hat' action from Diana, 'Melody' had been transferred to the Lusk facility as well as getting the back pay she was owed for five months working at Legacy. By the time anyone would figure out the Thunderbolts would be long gone and Legacy would have more then a few thieves to deal with.

"Miss Stern, Dr. Coleridge will see you now." the receptionist called. Melissa got to her feet and nodded before walking into the office opposite where she had been sitting. The room she found herself in looked too much like the interrogation centre in the Raft and the man sitting in the chair, Coleridge, looked too much like a hardened thug for her to feel comfortable. "So Miss Stern is it." Coleridge sneered looking at Melissa with hungry eyes, "Good record and even better results, we'd be lucky for you to stay here." he grunted. "Just a few questions, you know the drill."

"Yes." Melissa replied trying to sound like she knew exactly what was going on.

"Do you class yourself as homophobic?" Coleridge asked.

"No." Melissa answered. Over the next two minutes she was asked if she was racist, ageist and a secular zealot, all of which she answered no.

"One last question." Coleridge asked, "The most important one of all. Where do you stand on the mutant question?"

"Mutant Question?" Melissa asked feigning ignorance. "Do we do business with mutants?"

"Good one." Coleridge sneered, "Do we do business with mutants Miss Stern?"

"No." Melissa answered. She could read Coleridge's tone of voice and facial expressions when the word mutant came up without using her powers. She had wondered where she had heard the name Legacy before and she had an inkling as the meeting progressed, she only hopped her concerns were simple paranoia.

Abe and Diana crouched behind a stack of crates about to be moved and watched as a pair of guards walked past. "Window begins now." Diana whispered as they slipped out and headed for the door. "Displaying time on HUD." she added as Abe opened the door and led the way along the corridor. Diana had highlighted the trail for them to take on his HUD with a glowing green line. After breaching the perimeter and evading two patrols whilst crossing the warehouse floor the two minutes light jog to the lab should be easy going. As predicted the trip was uneventful with no guards appearing and the camera programmed to ignore the invaders, reaching the lab's door it took Diana twenty seconds to crack the digital lock and another ten to mimic the last hand scan the palm reader had encountered. After what seemed like an age the door whooshed open and the two Thunderbolts scuttled inside, their window still displaying over seven minutes of action.

"Jack into the network." Abe ordered as Diana slipped under a work station. "I'll cover you and check the sample Melissa stole from Sanders to see if we have a match with anything under the microscopes. Diana stuck her head over the top and nodded before re-submerging back into an ocean of exposed wires in an attempt to access the computer's hard-drive. Abe walked over and poured a few drops of the vaccine onto the mass spectrometer to compare with the flasks of liquid out on the lab surfaces. "Oh Crap." he whispered.

"What is it?" Diana asked.

"The vaccine is an isomer for a toxin from the Legacy Virus, the one used to terminate mutant genes. I should have known that the concept that the vaccine was based on sounded familiar."

"Is the virus still around?" Diana asked, her voice showing signs of worry as she watched the progress bar for her complete system downloads count up towards one-hundred."

"No it's extinct but it looks like the scientists here have created a pseudo strain that mimics the same effect. If it got out it could quite quickly become a threat to mutant populations."

"So is it dangerous or not?"

"To us probably not but I'd rather destroy it before it's released." Abe announced, "We can denature the samples with heat."

"Then you may want to head for the processing centre annexed to this lab. From what I can see from data stored on the network they generated twenty kilos of the stuff in a day." Diana replied, "We've got to be quick our window is getting narrower."

"I can see." Abe answered, "But we have to stop this before it starts up. I just hope Melissa is doing okay, who knows what these creeps have hidden away in here."

Melissa followed Coleridge down the hall towards the acoustic science lab, covertly shooting glances at the doors off to the side and preying that Abe and Diana were not suddenly going to come barrelling around the corner with half a dozen security agents on their tail. As they reached a large circular room, Coleridge stopped as a small lean faced man came to intercept him flanked by two security agents there hands resting on the pistols holstered on their belts.

"Dr. Lackstone what is it?" Coleridge asked the man.

"An alarm sounded in processing. Somebody brought a mutant into the room." Lackstone explained.

"A test subject perhaps." Coleridge suggested.

"All subjects are accounted for sir." one of the guards announced, "Johansson and I checked them personally." he added a cruel smile spreading across his face.

"We mobilised a squad to check it out." Lackstone added.

"Good bring me that unclean basted so we can continue operations unhindered, the more power sets we experiment on the more effective Project Seraph will be." Coleridge bellowed.

"Test subjects?" Melissa asked

"We have full field testing facilities here. We can show you if you want?" Lackstone wheezed displaying his yellow rat like teeth. "Johansson show our friend the test subjects, she had been cleared for it right?" he asked Coleridge.

"Yes Miss Stern will be working on the sonic deterrent we're working on although if Seraph succeeds in the outside world like it did in the lab then that and all other work will be pointless."

"Come with me Miss Stern." Johansson growled before grabbing Melissa's arm and pulling her away from the centre of the room. As they entered the corridor he opened a door and threw her inside before closing it behind him. Rising her hands in a defensive position Melissa watched as he loomed over her before being stuck with a fist, the blow knocking her to the floor as Johansson put his foot on her chest pining her to the floor. "You filthy bitch, I know what you do here and I'm giving you a warning, get out of here before the hammer comes down, I've read you're file and frankly you're better then this. Do you really want to be associated with the genocide that's about to happen?"

Melissa shook her head before staring up into the man's eyes; she recognized the sparkle and smiled. "Erik what are you doing here?"

"Who the hell do you know my name Miss Stern?" the guard bellowed pulling out a firearm and pointing it at her. "Are you the contact SHIELD promised to send me as back-up?"

"No." Melissa replied reaching up and removing her ID mask. "But I'm on you're side." Erik looked down and smiled before stepping off her chest and helping her up. "Well if it isn't SHIELD's most wanted." he said giving Melissa a hug. "Never thought I'd see you working for a collaboration of crap like Legacy."

"I don't Abe and I were following a lead after we had a showdown with the Sinister Syndicate over the theft of an experimental vaccine." Melissa told him. "He and an associate are down in the lab looking for any information on whether Legacy hired the Syndicate to steal the chemical and bring it to them."

"Abe's in the lab." Erik stated, "Does he have his armor?"

"A prototype and that's it." Melissa answered, "Why?" Erik frowned and cocked his weapon before turning to her, "Because security is heading in that direction."

Abe watched as Diana manipulated the room's climate controls. Already feeling the heat build causing the vials of chemicals to curdle and explode into geysers of froth. As the first machine stalled alarms began to sound, warning the occupants of the building that there was a chance of an industrial accident. Abe hoped that Melissa would take the cue that something bad was about to happen and leave before it was too late. As he scanned the room a grating mechanical noise begun to sound over the beeping alarm and a section of floor retracted to reveal an ascending lift in the centre of the room. Abe peered at the passenger before ducking behind a console as hails of gun-fire erupted from the new arrival. Abe had seen something like this before, it was a mechanical exoskeleton equipped with military firepower, but the real tell of the suit's owner was the smiley face plastered over the helmet. The examples he had seen had been used by an anti-mutant group called the Right.

"Diana we have to leave." he bellowed as the Right Exoskeleton strode forward still firing the Gattling gun it was clutching. Diana looked at the approaching enemy and shot a terrified glance over at Abe before darting out of cover and sliding under a conveyor belt, the exoskeleton turning and opening fire on her giving Abe enough time to move to the next console. "Melissa if you can here me get out of here." he mumbled before priming his suit's grenade launcher and targeting the Right Exoskeleton's leg joints. Popping up from behind the console he fired, the shot slamming through the suit's leg joints and sending it toppling, the stored munitions igniting and causing the room to glow a hellish red as the temperature of the vials reached critical levels. Rushing over to where Diana was hiding Abe looked down and saw her looking down at her feet.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, "I heard stories about that." she pointed at the exoskeleton. "About how they burnt hundreds due to religious zeal and intolerance."

"There not so tough." Abe snorted, "The Scorpion hit harder then that." he added with a devilish smile. One that quickly evaporated as the lift opened up again and a second Right Exoskeleton emerged.

Melissa darted down the hallways and stairwells, not bothering to hide her powers anymore. Not that anybody tried to stop her or Erik; they were too busy running for their own lives as alarms sounded. Only the truly zealous would stay and they would be sent to stop Abe and Diana from escaping. Reaching the lab door she felt sonic energy build up inside her and blast open the door, the steel sheet flying across the room and impacting against the wall. Racing through she found a second barrier, this one boiling hot and pushed on it with her powers, the force causing it to fall outwards and a jet of flame to shoot out scorching her clothes. Abe and Diana were in one of the corners trading fire with a suit of armor, a smiley face pasted on the front mocking them as it smashed through computer consoles and melting assembly lines.

"Get them out of here." Erik snarled. "I'll deal with Mr. Happy." Melissa nodded and watched as Erik expanded until he was forty foot tall. Darting forward, sonic energy shielding her from the heat Melissa grabbed Abe and Diana and expanded a bubble around them as the Right Exoskeleton turned and opened fire on Atlas until he simply reached out and crushed it. Smashing through the clearing Melissa looked down and saw the former Thunderbolt grow even larger and simply step out of the building, smoke poring out the holes they had made before simply exploding.

"So much for stealth." Abe mused, "Not that I mind but where the hell did Erik come from?"

"He was doing an op for SHIELD." Melissa replied, "If it wasn't for him then I would never have reached you in time." she added steering the bubble down towards the ground, landing next to the wreckage of the team's Ford Taurus. "What happened?" she asked as Erik shrunk down so that he could stand next to them without them having to crane their necks up too much.

"The vaccine was being turned into a biological weapon by Legacy. My guess is that they hired Sanders to complete the initial metamorphosis and then went into mass production." Abe explained. "Diana overloaded the production lines so it all went up in smoke so hopefully it will never be used on anybody."

"Well that's my job done." Erik muttered, "SHIELD offered me amnesty if I investigated a claim by a former employee that Legacy was refining something nasty. If you want I can vouch for you now that it's over."

"Oh no." Diana moaned.

"Oh that's not good." Melissa announced.

"We didn't get all of it." Diana said, "The trucks, they put some of the finished product in a bio-bomb for delivery at a school in Westchester."

"They mentioned a field test." Melissa announced, "If that bomb goes off there will be a war between humans and mutants."

"Not if we can stop it." Abe growled, "Now let's catch those trucks before they get out of range."

Coleridge stumbled out of the remains of the Legacy Pharmaceuticals building his phone already on and the number dialling. "Hello Ms. Dale I am in need of your assistance once again. We are willing to offer triple the amount if you help get our cargo to its destination. Yes thank you. Goodbye."

Coughing he turned to Lackstone as the diminutive man wiggled out of the wreckage. "The Right will prevail, with those idiots from the Syndicate backing us up then the sabotors don't stand a chance. Get on the phone with Wren and tell him to create a second lot of the phase one product. We need to move quickly before we loose the advantage of surprise."

"What of the mutant terrorists that attacked the facility?" Lackstone asked.

"They will go after the trucks." Coleridge sneered, "And when they do they will fall at the hands of the Right."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #8**

It's a race against time and the Sinister Syndicate as the Thunderbolts attempt to catch the Right before they can detonate their bio-weapon at a certain mutant school. What will it take for the Thunderbolts to succeed? Find out in the finale of Something Sinister.


	9. Something Sinister - Part IV

Melissa gunned the 'borrowed' Mercedes down the highway towards the three trucks, each with Legacy Pharmaceuticals emblazoned on the side. The attack plan was simple, board the truck and locate which one contained the re-purposed vaccine and stop it before the drivers could signal for help. "_It should be easy,_" Melissa thought, "_the heavy mechanized 'smiles' they had faced back at Legacy were too clunky to be stored on the trucks in any number and with Atlas at their backs she felt like the old Thunderbolts were back in business._"

"Switching to remote activation." Diana warned her as she plugged into the car's onboard computers. The steering wheel jerked and Melissa let go, her reminiscing rudely interrupted by Revenant's less then stellar driving.

"So who's up first?" Eric asked flexing his muscles.

"Me." Melissa replied, "Then Abe and finally Diana when it comes to boarding the truck. The car will then drive itself in-front of the trucks ready for you to make the intercept. There will only be a few guards meaning that this should be an easy stop." Abe smiled before turning to look over his shoulder and saw a blurring mass heading towards the car and the trucks.

"We have a hostile moving up fast." he yelled as the Mercedes drew level with the first truck. Leaning out of the car Melissa powered up a sonic blade and jabbed it into the trucks chassis just as the blur hit her dragging her away. Abe face-palmed himself as the car overtook the first truck and moved level with the second before activating the suction cups on his suit's glove. Springing from the car he crawled up the side and reached the roof as the Mercedes moved up towards the final truck. Watching the vehicle's progress he saw an armoured transit van heading on an intercept course.

Diana crawled onto the Mercedes roof and watched as the last truck came level with the vehicle. As she got ready to leap the van smashed into the car knocking her onto the road as the mangled bodies of the two vehicles crumpled around her. Desperately she got to her feet and felt the rush of air as the trucks passed by. "Crap." she cursed as the remains of the van rumbled before exploding open as the Scorpion scuttled towards her. "Oh Double Crap." she added as Mac Gangran turned towards her and started thundering towards her.

Melissa felt the wind rush through her hair as Sanders sped up, heading towards a gas station. With an angry screech Melissa emitted a terrible wail causing Speed Demon to stall and drop her as he tried to stop his ear's bleeding from the increasing volume of the scream. Flipping herself to a standing position Melissa slammed her fist into Sander's nose before taking to the air and heading back towards the trucks. As she closed in on the convoy she saw that Abe had managed to board his truck but that Eric and Diana were not in position. Even worse the third truck had opened its back hatch and two of the 'Smiley' Exoskeletons were disembarking followed by the sleek feline form of Puma.

Further along the highway Diana leapt over a strike from one of Scorpion's swipes before opening fire with her electrified pellet gun, electricity sparking over Mac Gangran's exoskeleton. The blast did nothing to sooth the Scorpion's temper and caused spittle to fly from his lips as he slammed his tail into the ground, the barbed stinger shredding through Diana's leg causing circuits and wires to go flying. "Got you're leg." Gangran hissed, "Now to take the rest of you apart."

"I'd be more careful if I were you." Diana stated as wires shot out of her leg and imbedded into the Scorpion armor, digging into the control surfaces. Howling with rage Mac Gangran ran forward attempting to gore Revenant with his claws and tail. Diana kept backing up, binary code running across her eyes, while her hack continued to eat through the Scorpion's software. "You know you have good hardware but you're software is so stupid that you're actual brain has more intelligence." Mac Gangran just continued to surge forward until his suit stalled just a single step away from crushing Diana's neck.

"I am so going to kill you." Mac hissed unaware of the pile of debris being pushed away by the rapidly growing Atlas, his face damaged by metal cuts and an angry look spread across his face. Unable to turn round due to his stalled suit Mac never saw the king sized foot hit him but he had a lovely view of the countryside as he flew off into the distance.

"Thanks for the save." Diana told Atlas as he moved the debris off the road.

"You're welcome." Eric replied, "You think you can catch up with the trucks while I go and get into position."

"Just have to reattach my foot and I'll be fine." Diana announced as Atlas thundered off. Reaching out Diana grabbed the mangled remains of her leg and reattached it, the wires fusing before being covered by a layer of blackened synthetic skin. Turning to look at the now distant convoy she spotted a pair of items flaring away from the trucks. With a thud the first landed glowering at her with a mocking smiley face as it trained a pair of high-velocity canons on her as the second landed behind it. "Mutant detected. Suggestion terminate." the armoured soldier rumbled as it got ready to fire.

"Oh Triple Crap." Diana swore as she hit the road running.

Abe elbow slammed the man in a smiley faced mask knocking him and his shotgun wielding buddy off the edge of the truck. With a thud Puma landed behind him and dashed towards him claws outstretched ready for the kill before slamming his claws into Abe's armor. Reaching for his sword Abe got to his feet and slashed back as Puma vaulted over his swipe and slashed at his neck armor, the claws digging through the carbon steel plating and drawing blood from the skin below.

"You are not well versed in close combat." Puma mused as Abe roared in pain before attempting a second clumsy slash with his improvised sword. "I had more of challenge from you're friend in the construction site." Abe snorted and made a quick diagonal slash before being disarmed, his blade flying off the truck. "You really should just surrender; I will take no pleasure in killing a man who is defenceless."

"Just because I'm not a master of kung-fu or whatever doesn't mean that I don't know how to fight." Abe announced as he saw Melissa land on the truck in front of him, a blue glow lighting up her hands. "I even have rules that I'm willing to impart." Puma snarled and sprung forward landing on-top of Abe and wrestling him to the floor. "For example Rule 3 always check you're rear." he added head-butting Puma and causing the cat-man to jerk upwards just in time to be hit by a fired sonic blast causing him to slide off the roof of the truck.

"What were rules 1 and 2?" Melissa asked.

"Don't know." Abe replied, "We still need to find the virus bomb and we're only ten miles away from Newcastle, I'd rather do this out in the country encase something goes wrong."

"So you're saying we are on the clock." Melissa stated, "Brilliant, not to mention we have the Sinister Syndicate to deal with and Diana and Eric are god-knows where."

"I wouldn't worry about that hero." A female voice hissed as the wine of blasters powering up sounded. Melissa dodged the blast and looked up to see the Beetle hovering above her already charging a second shot. "We gave you the chance to get away now you will pay heros." she screamed over the blaster's wine. Abe reacted fast and fired a training grenade, the projectile ricocheting off the Beetle's shoulder and causing her to flinch, the shot going wide and burning off a third of the truck's hull.

"Hey Beetle." Abe yelled, "Let's settle this matter like grown-ups."

"I'd rather fight." the Beetle buzzed shouldering an M72 LAW and opening fire on Abe's position. Jumping from the truck just in time Abe watched the rocket chew through the vehicle's hull and detonate in an orange cloud tinted with green smoke. Groaning he saw the remains of the vehicle crash through the barrier and sink into the ditch running parallel with the road. "Okay so if the vaccine was in that truck our problem is solved." Abe moaned as he heard the sound of claws scraping along concrete as Melissa and the first and third trucks drove past. Turning Abe had just enough time to see Puma tackle him to the ground and pin him the tarmac before he kicked back knocking the villain away as he got to his feet.

"What are you waiting for?" the Beetle yelled down at Puma. "Finish him." Abe turned to face her and immediately regretted the decision as Puma stabbed his claws into his back armor and ripped the plating off. "Rule 3." Fireheart purred before shoulder slamming the Thunderbolt to the floor.

Erik stood at the gas-station watching as the truck's got closer and closer. Melissa and Abe were meant to give him some indication of which truck he was meant to catch, but guessing from the lack of communication the plan had as usual gone south. Sighing he hunkered down and held both hand out across the road creating a living road-block to both the trucks just to be safe.

"Hey Erik." a voice yelled from down by his hands. "How's it been?"

Erik looked down to see Sanders running up his left arm holding a long metal re-bar. Desperately he tried to swat at the running man but Speed Demon evaded all his attempts before leaping backwards and releasing the metal ram-rod before flipping and landing on his feet and speeding away as the bar slammed into Erik's eye, blood weeping from the wound.

"Sorry buddy but I've got to run." Sanders yelled back at Atlas, "Don't worry though I got a friend to watch you." he cackled as he covered the distance to the first truck. Erik turned and watched as liquid emerged from the pumps and the jet washer and coalesced to form a filthy blue giant its arms tipped with oily maces, the spikes glinting like rainbows as it struck, the barbed tips smashing through Atlas's skull and causing him to roar in pain as he got to his feet.

"This will be a wash-out." Hydroman bubbled as oil covered tendrils lashed out leaving burning welts on Erik's face. "You should never have got involved in our affairs." he added as he retracted the tendrils and transformed his arm into a bladed lance and shooting it straight towards Erik's heart.

Diana dodged around the crash site as the two mech's opened fire, their chain guns and canons chewing holes in the road and boring through the barriers and smoking wreckage. Jumping over the remains of the Syndicate's van Diana dropped and slid underneath the charred remains of the vehicle. Her brain started racing trying to combat the growing fear that was threatening to consume her. The remains of the van shifted and Diana looked up to see one of the Right Exoskeleton's reaching out for her as she tried to scrabble away back under the van. Back where she had come from her master had made sure such people didn't exist and those that tried to persecute her kind were punished severely. Racking her brain through the stories that she had heard one thing kept repeating itself, "There not so tough, the Scorpion hit harder then that". Abe's words set her mind alight, she had beaten the Scorpion only a few minutes before and at the time she had been handicapped by the lack of a foot. Sliding out from under the wreckage she morphed her hand into a blaster and watched as her former hiding place disintegrated as the first suit locked onto her.

"You're kind will burn in the fires of the Right." the pilot remarked through the suit's speakers. "And you have the honour of being the first." he added as he levelled his Gattling gun at her face. Diana held her head up high and opened fire, the first blast disintegrating the pilot's weapon causing him to move back in disbelief. Reaching for his shoulder canon he saw Revenant fire another blast, this one melting away his gloved hand and the canon he had been attempting to activate. Surprisingly he kept reaching as he charged forward as his foe rushed to meet him firing three more shots, the first of which taking out a hydraulic hose stalling one of the suit's legs, the second scorching the smiley and the third igniting the fuel tank causing that and the hydraulic pack to detonate, ripping the formally formidable suit into a shower of shrapnel. Breathing a sigh of relief Diana saw the second suit rush towards her only to be ripped open by a blast of sonic energy.

"Melissa thank god." she wheezed as she turned to see where the blast had come from. Standing across the highway from her straddling a motorcycle was the insulated form of Shocker, his gauntlets smoking as he levelled them at her. "I just used a level 5 sonic blast on that guy; give me a good reason not to do the same to you."

"Well Genocide for one." Diana replied smartly, "The vaccine you stole was modified into a gene bomb. One that is going to be used to wipe out an entire race from the face of the earth."

"Well." Shocker said lowering his arms. "That's a good one."

Melissa repulsed a man with a smiley mask off the top of the truck; she could see the intercept point up-ahead. Erik was fighting something and he defiantly looked like he was on the back foot. Looking back she saw that Abe and Diana were still absent and that she was the only one left with the convoy. Indecision quickly struck her followed seconds later by a high speed kick as Sanders leapt over the cab and planted his foot in her face.

"Well hot stuff." he purred, "Looks like it's you and me again." Melissa wretched and sent a wave of sonic energy in his direction, her nimble foe flipping over the pulse and landing on her shoulders before delivering hundreds of punches into her head. Snarling with rage and frustration Melissa sent a pulse over her body sending Sanders flying off as a goon lugging a flamethrower crawled up onto the truck's roof. Looking up the road Erik saw the vehicle coming and shrunk back to normal size leaping off into the ditch on the side of the road as the goon unleashed a burst of flame. Melissa watched the jet of fire spread towards her and then started running as the truck sliced through Hydroman, the fire igniting the petrol smeared across his skin, the blast lightning him up like a roman candle and vaporizing the truck, driver and the idiot that had started the whole chain reaction. Melissa jumped to the next truck and landed on the grille as Speed Demon followed landing next to her as Hydroman evaporated leaving nothing behind but a filthy black cloud.

"Okay that burns." Speed Demon announced before attempting to slap Melissa, his quarry inching out of reach. "You know maybe we should continue this after we stop hanging out." Melissa shot him a smile before shielding them both with a sonic screen as the driver and front passenger pulled out their pistols and opened fire on them.

"Hey I'm on you're team." Sanders yelled at the driver. "Fine have it you're way." he added removing a throwing knife from his belt and aiming it at the driver. Melissa gasped before letting go of the truck the same moment the knife slashed through the driver's throat causing him to veer sharply left and capsize the truck. Peering through the exploded vapour Melissa crawled to the rear door and pulled on the catch, the doors springing open to reveal the bomb, its sensors tied to a sat-nav wired into the control surface.

"Bomb located on third truck." she wheezed. "It looks like it's…argh." she screamed as Sanders slammed a second throwing knife into her hand pining her to the floor before kicking her in the head. As unconsciousness begun to close in Melissa lashed out with her powers in a desperate attempt at survival, the blast catching Speed Demon and throwing him across the highway and into a truck going the opposite direction. Staggering Sanders limped forward his speed cut as his leg's ached, he was exhausted but he had enough stamina to finish the job. With a groan he crossed the central reservation and headed for the fallen 'Skylark' his hand's clutched around a third knife.

"Is it worth it Sanders?" a voice boomed behind him. "Are you really committed to the action you are about to take?" Sanders turned and saw Atlas looming over him before looking at the knife he was holding before throwing it away, "No it isn't" he muttered before collapsing onto the tarmac next to Melissa.

Abe fell to his knees, between the Beetle and Puma he was majorly outclassed without his armor and they knew it. While he had got a few good blows in on Puma even though they had done relatively little damage it was better then his progress against the Beetle, she had stayed aloft and had avoided contact as if it were some kind of infectious disease.

"Now to follow through on my promise." the Beetle buzzed landing next to Abe and igniting an energy blade next to her prisoner's neck. Abe looked up and saw that she had taken off her helmet to reveal a beautiful yet sour looking face. She looked familiar but he couldn't quite place where he had seen her before, maybe somebody he had seen back when he had been a villain. "I wanted Jenkins as my first kill for what he did to my sister and her husband but you had to steal my dreams from me. Still I will feel better that you and you're friends are no longer interfering with out business."

"This is wrong." Puma growled, "We don't need to kill him."

"I disagree this man has allied against us and should be punished for that."

"But is it what you really want?" Puma asked moving forward towards the Beetle and her hostage.

"Back off Fireheart or I will be forced to take steps." the Beetle hissed menacingly as she levelled a blaster at Puma's head. Puma threw up his hands as Shocker and Diana arrived on the villain's motorcycle causing the beetle to turn and look at the new arrivals. In that instant Puma pounced knocking her to the ground allowing Abe to roll free from the ensuing brawl. Lashing out the Beetle escaped and took to the air and tapped something into her wrist gauntlets, the panels glowing menacingly.

"What have you done?" Diana yelled up at the airborne mercenary.

"Activated the bomb of course, in fifty seconds it will blow and all mutant and mutates in a five mile radius will be disintegrated. Of course I have nothing to fear but you may feel very differently." she explained before being floored by a sonic blast as Shocker toggled his own gauntlets and fired a second shot knocking his target to the floor. Dashing forwards Diana kicked the Beetle in the chest as she attempted to stand and stuck tendrils into the suit before causing the flashing to stop.

"Only thirteen seconds to spare." she sighed, "I could have done better." she added as Abe walked over to the Beetle struggling to get to her feet.

"What have you done to me?" she growled

"Stalled you're suit I'd guess." Abe stated. "Now shut up." he added punching her in the face and knocking her out before turning to Shocker. "Thank you for proving me wrong." he told the villain, "You guys should split before SHIELD turns up."

Shocker nodded before shouldering the unconscious Beetle. "She's going to be in a crappy mood when she wakes up." he muttered as Puma took the other arm and walked off down the highway. Heading in the other direction Abe found Melissa and Erik sitting by the crashed truck next to a handcuffed Sanders, the villain apparently unconscious.

"Bomb dealt with?" Abe asked as Diana peered into the truck.

"Erik disarmed it; turns out he has some bomb disposal training." Melissa announced.

"Thanks for the assist man." Abe said as he offered a handshake to Atlas, the larger man accepting the gesture, "So what now?" he asked.

"Wait for SHIELD, Speeds here will probably take the fall for the whole thing, it seems unfair but I lost my evidence when the Legacy building exploded."

"We may be able to help you with that." Diana stated handing over a USB drive that had sprouted from her body. "All the evidence you need." she added as Abe helped Melissa up to her feet.

"See you later Erik." Melissa said with a smile on her face. Erik returned it before looking uneasy. "You know as a deputized member of SHIELD I should arrest you since the Thunderbolts are wanted all over the country." his uneasy look became a smile. "Good thing that there in New Mexico then isn't It." he added.

"Thank you." Abe said as Melissa grabbed his and Diana's hand and soared off into the distance.

* * *

Epilogue(s)

"The fair of thieves masquerading as Thunderbolts the Beetle and Songbird were later arrested on the outskirts of El Paso attempting to escape over the Mexican border. The whereabouts of the real Thunderbolts remains unknown but officials from the Federal Advisory Committee to the Thunderbolts reminds people to keep their distance from the pair of dangerous felons and call SHIELD immediately if spotted." The Newscaster announced. "Our top story remains the arrests of James Sanders AKA Speed Demon and Donald Mac Gangran AKA the Scorpion as well as Dr. Neil Wren in an elaborate theft and the an attempted mutation of a flu vaccine into a deadly gene bomb. The plot was foiled by undercover SHIELD operatives and further arrests are expected to be made. Recovery of all ten original vials has been completed and the chemical is being held in a secure location to prevent its release into the environment"

Melissa smiled as Abe walked over with the keys to their new car. She had picked up their stuff while he and Diana had chosen the car and they both had time to think about the question that she had asked him two nights before.

"The answer is yes and no." Abe told her as she wrapped her arm around him. "Yes we continue being Heros but only part time. We only deal with the threats we come across at least until we are exonerated."

"Good enough for me." Melissa said, "So where to next?"

"I say go west." Abe replied, "All we have to do is wait for Diana and then we can get rolling."

"Abe there were twelve vials, SHIELD only found ten. We had one which I assume was burned up in the lab when the Legacy Pharmaceuticals building exploded but that still means a vial is out there."

"So it's not over." Abe moaned, "I hate to know what twisted mind has got there hands on it."

Diana stood in the car-salesroom's disabled bathroom and analyzed the tube of green liquid in her hand. She had her freedom from her captor and soon she would have her revenge as well.

* * *

The Beetle took a clunky step forward, her armor still suffering from the attack by the hero's technopath. Shocker and Puma had split leaving her alone in the abandoned chemical building that they had been using as a base. The pair of them would pay just as dearly as Jenkins for betraying her but first she needed to purge her armor systems so that she could escape before the net closed on her. Heading to the work-bench where her tools lay she saw something move and turned to see a leather clad woman leaning against the back wall.

"Kelly Anne Dale." the woman stated, "The boss had a proposal for you."

"I don't care about you're boss." Kelly snapped, "I just want revenge."

"Good," the woman announced, "you have the same agenda as us then. Tell me the armoured man you almost killed today, do you know who he was?"

"Some wannabe Avenger who bit off more then he could chew." Kelly replied sarcastically. "I don't care."

"It was Abner Jenkins."

Kelly turned and glowered at the woman. "What did you say?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"He was Abe Jenkins the man responsible for the deaths you are looking to avenge." the woman replied. "I'm looking to take revenge myself and my boss is willing to facilitate it as well as pay you for you're services."

"Why should I wait, I could kill him right now." Kelly asked, her anger subsiding.

"Because." a male voice announced as a figure emerged from the shadows. "A backwoods slaying is too small a stage for such a feat. We need grandeur especially considering who we are."

"If I join I get dibs on Jenkins death though." Kelly asked the figure.

"Of course." the man announced revealing himself, "A Zemo always respects his ally's wishes especially when they match his own. Welcome Miss Dale to the Masters of Evil."

* * *

Thunderbolts #9

The Thunderbolts head west towards the forests of Washington State but strange goings on are a foot. What is the meaning of the strange sunsets and the apparent exodus from the quaint little town…called Fear?


	10. A Town Called Fear - Part I

Panicking the young man ran towards the centre of town, the half imagined terror persuing him as he went, his screams and the monsters roars causing the town's inhabitants to hide away and pull the curtains over their windows, lest they also be affected by the creature born from the runners fear. Panting, adrenaline now overriding his body, the man saw sanctuary looming in front of him, the town's church surrounded by a delicate cast iron fence, a place of serenity and safety. Crossing the threshold and slamming the gate behind him the man looked back and saw the creature, so terrible and savage before was nothing but a common crow flapping around the flower beds looking for food. He felt so silly there were crows everywhere, all around the church behaving normally.

Walking over to the church door he knocked whilst calling, "Reverend I need to speak with you." There was no answer so eventually he gave up and turned to look back at the 'monster' and gasped. Stuck on the fence spikes was the Reverend's head, a sheer look of terror on his face as the doors of the church creaked open. Turning the man screamed as he saw the figure silhouetted in the doorway and took off once again as all the crows started swarming around him, beaks pecking at his skin. Panicking he started to run again as a croaking voice whispered, "And another one falls to fear." the words able to be heard over the calls of the crows, the creak of the church doors and of course over the screams of terror as fear grabbed hold of the man and made his body it's new home.

Abe reclined against the silver Mercedes he had brought from Newcastle as he looked out over the town of Forkes nestled in the forested hills that ran down towards the barley visible Pacific Ocean in the distance. The Thunderbolts had made a stop off on the slopes of Mount Olympus partially to get out of the car and also to satisfy both Diana and Melissa's need to disappear into the woods for what seemed like hours. Checking his watch Abe frowned, okay it wasn't hours since they had got out but it had been forty minutes since the pair had set off to look for a suitable spot to squat. He decided to give the girls ten more minutes before suiting up to find them when a black Ford pulled up behind his Merc and five teenagers all dressed in black got out. Their ranks consisted of three girls and two boys, all of them wearing heavy make-up and supporting what were hopefully fake fangs in their jaws. Abe cocked his head, he had no idea why they had stopped but all five were making a bee-line for him.

"Hey can you help us out." one of the guys said, his voice lacking any form of enthusiasm.

"Depends, what do you need help with." Abe replied reaching inside and searching for one of his gauntlets. Even without it he was certain he could take the five Goths if it came to a fight as long as they didn't have any powers.

"We need directions." one of the girls announced, she sounded peppier then the first Goth but not by much. "We are looking for Port Fear do you know where it is?" Abe sighed before dropping the glove and reaching for the map book, crushed under the seat next to an extremely expensive laptop which shouldn't have been left on the floor. "_Diana_" Abe thought, "_It's a wonder that the computer hasn't broken with all the abuse she puts it through_" Flicking through the index Abe found the page marked P and ran his finger down the list.

"Sorry I can't find any town by that name around here." Abe replied. The Goths shot him a look that made him feel massively uncomfortable. "So what exactly is at Port Fear?" he asked.

"Rumour has it that there have been a lot of strange occurrences within the city limits. Anybody with an insight into the paranormal would understand but a layman like yourself would overlook It." the first Goth moaned.

"Well I hope you find what you're looking for." Abe said smiling as Diana appeared at the foot of the path with Melissa in hot pursuit. "Have fun in Port Fear you freaks." he added as the Goths got back into their car and drove away. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked Melissa or rather the red haired spectacled woman that Melissa's ID mask portrayed her to be.

"I got attacked by garter snakes while I was walking." snapped showing Abe the multiple bite wounds on her arms. "Then the birds and the squirrels joined in. I yelled for help but somebody didn't show up for twenty fucking minutes."

"The acoustics of the forest made you hard to track." Diana replied sheepishly.

"You got attacked by snakes and squirrels?" Abe asked. "God help you if there were any serious threats in the area." Melissa turned on him, her eyes glowing with pink energy, the discharge dropping onto the floor and causing pink rivers to run down the hill. "Jezz it was a joke." Abe added, "There should be some bite ointment in the first aid kid."

"Don't push me." Melissa hissed, her voice running down the rivers of sound until it echoed around the whole hill side. As she went round the back of the car Abe turned to Diana and gave her a sideways look.

"So what did the Twi-Hards want?" Diana asked trying to sound innocent.

"First what did you do in the woods to Melissa?" Abe replied

"Nothing, the wildlife seems irate. I was attempting to take biological surveys until Melissa started yelling." Diana answered, "In three of the groups I surveyed; Corvids, Rodents and Snakes, adrenaline levels were abnormally high. Using a detector for airborne protein markers I could find out where the point of origin is." From the back of the car Melissa screamed before re-emerging, her holographic cheek torn open as if she had been attacked by a knife. "A bird just attacked my face." she hissed through holographic teeth. "I don't care where we go just get us out of here."

Abe turned back to Diana as Melissa got into the back of the car. "Listen Melissa is going to be tetchy, she's used to beating guys like Bullseye and Moonstone not losing fights with birds and squirrels so until we get out of the woods be gentle on her ego. Also if you can search for a place called Port Fear that would be appreciated. Something those Goths mentioned has got me intrigued." Diana smiled and nodded before getting in the front passenger seat. Abe sighed, he was going to have to take Melissa to an E&R if just to get a rabies shot, personally he hated hospitals but if it kept the Screaming Mimi in the backs seat quiet he was all for it.

The wait for Melissa to be processed in Forkes was longer then expected. Animal attacks had gone up in the county to an all time high, there had already been five similar encounters in the same day, and there had been rumours that a few people had been seriously mauled or even killed although there was no evidence to support such speculations. Diana had easily hacked into both the results found by the local university and the police and found that there findings were identical to hers. She had also found out that the main concentration of attacks was around the city of Port Angeles. Believing she had a theory she then searched for articles on both Port Angeles and Port Fear and came up with a few interesting pieces. Some such as the renovation of the church she discarded but one titled; the arrival of Fear really stood out. It chronicled the spread of paranoia and delusion among residents dating back to a meteor shower that had been seen across the world and had dropped large apparently mystical hammers across the planet and while none had fallen in Washington the writer speculated that their was a connection.

Abe saw Melissa stagger out, her body covered in plasters and her face in a half smile, almost as if she didn't want to be happy but didn't have the strength to keep up the fury that she had unleashed in the wood either.

"So what did the doctors say?" Abe asked.

"They gave me a Rabies shot but apparently a lot of attacks have occurred recently." Melissa replied. "A guy came in yesterday claiming to have been mauled by a grizzly so I am in no way the worst off person they have seen recently."

"Did they do any other tests?" Abe asked concern written across his face.

"No they wanted to but they couldn't get the needle in my arm to take a blood sample." Melissa said. "Where's Diana by the way?"

"She thought it best not to come inside." Abe answered. "You know her and hospitals."*

(As seen in Persona Non Grata - Part I)

"I do." Melissa said gravely. "Abe what are we doing taking her with us. I know you think she can be redeemed but let's face it she's a computer, can she actually change her ways."

"She wasn't always like how she is now." Abe stated. "I saw images when I was hooked up to her network. She was human once until they tortured her, converted her body into computer systems."

"Wait you knew she wasn't an alien." Melissa spat, "Between that and the stolen money I, I just feel like you're keeping stuff from me."

"Would you have looked at her differently if you knew the truth?" Abe asked causing Melissa to lower her head before whispering. "Yes I would have."

The Thunderbolts moods had not picked up when they reached the centre of Forkes whilst in the search for food. After finally suggesting a café and ordering their food they sat in silence exchanging angry glares when they thought the others were not watching them.

"So did you check the Port Fear thing like I asked you?" Abe asked Diana even though his eyes were locked on Melissa as she scratched one of the many snake bites on her arm.

"I did." Diana answered not looking up from the salad she had ordered. "There was an incident a few months ago involving magic hammers. I read the files and know you were involved in those events."

"I remember Marko smashing the Raft wide open." Melissa mumbled. "What does that have to do with Port Fear? Actually what the hell is Port Fear and why are you two so entranced with it?"

"There is a town near here called Port Angeles." Diana explained. "It currently is the epicentre of the animal attacks and a few days after the hammers fell a wave of panic attacks and paranoia episodes. The Centre of Disease Control attempted to quarantine the town but they were infected by whatever spread the disease and were evacuated. Removal from the area seemed to cure the problem but they were unable to get everyone out."

"And this is our problem why?" Melissa asked half heartedly stabbing a piece of steak.

"You said that we should investigate things like this when we find it, when it appears to be threatening us or the public." Abe told her. "And I for one find the incidents curious."

"So we're going to Port Angeles?" Diana asked.

"I am but it's up to you two if you want to join me or hang out in Forkes." Abe replied, "Either way I don't mind."

"Hmm I'm not a Twilight Fan." Diana mused. "So I'm willing to play anywhere but here."

"How about you Sulking Mimi?" Abe asked giving Melissa a playful punch on the shoulder in an attempt to improve her mood.

"You know what they say about curiosity." Melissa replied. "Not that you're a cat or anything but I figure if there is something weird about this place then you're going to need back-up."

"Thanks Mel I appreciate it." Abe said sincerely watching Melissa flick him a tiny smile. "Miss." he asked the passing waitress. "The bill please."

The team's Mercedes came to a halt as they reached the ad-hoc barrier constructed from crashed and broken cars across the road. Getting out Abe walked over to where the wooden sign stood on the side of the road and rubbed his chin before pulling the armoured face-plate down and activated the newly installed atmosphere filters. Scrawled across the sign in red spray paint over the word 'Angeles' was FEAR suggesting how the town had got its new name. Turning round he saw Melissa pull on a pair of gloves, designed to go with her new heroic ensemble. As Sky Lark she exuded sexiness from her long blonde hair, the tips ended with real lark feathers, down to her feet clad in black leather boots whilst in between the two she wore a skirted leotard died bronze with a pair of sky blue wings printed across the chest. Abe also noticed the same tattoo that she had worn from back in Newcastle stretching up her arm. From behind his mask he smiled as she extended a sonic bubble over her nose and mouth, from what Diana had told them about the CDCs findings, the toxin or bacteria that caused the paranoia attacks was airborne. As if summoned from the depths of hell just by thinking about her Diana appeared her skin paler then normal contrasting with the black leather jumpsuit. It was almost as if she was a corpse reanimated for some nefarious purpose, whatever the reason behind it she defiantly deserved the name Revenant. Looking down at his own costume Abe noted that the only thing that he had changed about his armor since the Newcastle incident was to spray paint the suit black to fit with his codename Iridium.

"That is not a good omen." Melissa stated as she walked up to the sign and stood next to Abe. "Also why did we have to arrive at the town at sunset? It makes the place seem like a set for a horror movie."

"Well for starters there are no squirrels, snakes or birds active at night." Abe replied.

"Yes because I feel so much better being attacked by rats, bats and owls instead." Melissa deadpanned, "Still if we are playing attacked by vermin bingo I'd be wining." she added sarcastically. As Abe started to climb over the barricade, following him up and over Melissa saw Diana springing from car to car almost effortlessly before landing on the other side. Cursing under her breath she dropped down and gasped at what she saw. They seemed to have landed in a CDC outpost, now deserted after the people manning it had caught whatever had infected the town.

"Okay so we're not even ten minutes in and it already feels like 28 Days Later." Melissa moaned, "If I come back as a zombie I'm going to eat you're brains." she snapped at Abe.

"As long as you're a cute zombie I don't mind." Abe replied as he cut through the barbed wire mesh surrounding the camp with his wing blade. Holding the wire up he snuck inside while Melissa and Diana leapt the fence and landed on an abandoned HUMVEE. The smell inside the camp was disgusting and it didn't take long to find the first body, a forty something man strung up from the scaffolding of a watch tower. Judging from the amount of blood on the ground he hadn't been the only person slain here and a five minute inspection of the site revealed six more slain bodies; the oldest an elderly woman had been buried up to her neck while coins had been forced down her throat while the youngest an eighteen year old had been immolated on a pyre of what looked like crow bones.

"So what do you guys think about Port Fear?" Abe asked as the Thunderbolts headed away from the CDC camp.

"Some of the dead show signs of ritual murder." Diana announced, "The coins suggest Hellenic practices of passing while the burnt man suggests the trying of a witch."

"I'm just glad you take me to nice places." Melissa snorted, "Oh wait you never do."

"Can you stop bitching for five minutes?" Abe snapped, "Something horrible happened here and nobody seems to give a damm. I know that the super hero community has a lot on its plate right now; what with the emergence of the Worthy, the mass break-out at the Raft and the growing tension between the X-Men and the Avengers but this is big enough to be noticed."

"You're right." Melissa admitted, "Maybe there is a Hammer here, maybe that's why everything is fucked up here."

"No from the testimonies from Ben Grimm and Marko made not to mention eyewitness reports of the Grey Gargoyle and the Absorbing Man claiming their hammers it appears that there was some kind of attractive force." Abe stated, "But it's too much of a coincidence that the outbreak started days after the Worthy appeared on the scene."

Diana cocked her head before morphing her hand into a blaster, something was moving in the shadows by the side of the road. Melissa seemed to sense something was wrong as well because seconds later she sent a pulse of sonic energy through the sky, lighting up the area to reveal a haggard young man, his clothes ripped and his eyes full of fear. With a bloodthirsty scream he ran at the Thunderbolts, attempting to tackle Abe to the ground before being shaken off as his target charged his stun gauntlets ready for a counter-strike.

"I've had it with you monsters." the Man spat, "You've killed so many people but it ends now." he growled removing a pistol from his belt. "May I be forgiven." he whimpered as he placed the gun to his head. As he pulled the trigger the weapon glowed blue before exploding with a pop as Melissa strode over to him.

"I am not going to hurt you," she purred, her voice osculating. "We are not going to hurt you. Now calm yourself and tell us who you are and what is happening here." The man blinked three times before rubbing his eyes and looking up at Melissa as she wrapped her arm round him.

"My name is Tony." he replied his voice wavering, it was clear he was still terrified but he seemed to be a lot calmer then he had been. "I work as a journalist for a local paper. I don't know what's happening all I know is that the town is full of monsters,"

"Monsters?" Abe asked.

"Who are you?" Tony snapped, he seemed to be getting more nervous.

"We are…" Melissa paused, "Well our organization doesn't have a name but I'm Sky Lark, the guy in the armor is Iridium and finally we have Revenant. We're sort of heros, we heard about the strange goings on and decided to investigate." Tony nodded before breaking down and crying. "You are safe." Melissa said rubbing his arm softly.

"No the sun's coming down, the monsters will be coming for us." Tony yelled throwing Melissa's arm off him and reaching for the pistols. "They are coming I can hear them."

Abe looked west and saw the sun drop beneath the horizon casting red shadows over the road. He also noticed that the wind, a pleasant costal breeze had died and what seemed like wisps of fog were creeping in at the edges of the road. "Revenant, what is the forecast for tonight?" he asked. Diana didn't answer but she did gasp, purely for show since she could create her own oxygen, and pointed at a pair of lights blazing through the mists, their bobbing path alternating in height from five to fifteen foot off the ground and getting closer with each bound.

"This is not good." Abe commented as the lights stopped moving and a voice sounded from the fog. "By yonder forest and track, my hunger I must slack, my skin no sword can crack, beware gentlemen and ladies fair here…" the creature bounded forward his eyes blazing amber, his arms stretched out giving his cape the appearances of wings ending in hooked claws as his legs bended and flexed as he leapt, "…is Springheel Jack." The Thunderbolts stood and stared as the creature bowed before spitting a white fireball on the floor.

"We're not afraid of you." Melissa bellowed, the strength of her voice causing Jack to wobble backwards.

"My sensors are picking up more contacts moving from both sides of the highway." Diana told the group, "We have to go before we are encircled."

"The blatant harlot fears me not, but terror doth make the brain rot." Springheel Jack sung, "When monsters past fill the slot, Mimi will scream for me." Jack swung his cape around over his face before revealing it again cackling manically, his eyes now yellow sunk in an elfin face covered in green skin.

"No you're in a coma." Melissa gasped backing away slowly. "You can't be here Osborne; you are locked away in the Raft rotting."

"I am here because you fear my return." Osborne snickered as the shadowy figures encircled the Thunderbolts, "And you're fear will keep you here with me."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #10**

The Thunderbolts fears are coming alive as they journey into the heart of the mystery gripping Port Fear. Will they triumph or will the Thunderbolts path to redemption be finished by Fear Itself.


	11. A Town Called Fear - Part II

The fog kept rolling in, enveloping the Thunderbolts in a thick grey soup as the insidious figures advanced. Apart from Springheel Jack, Abe couldn't make out any of them although Melissa was screaming about Norman Osborne. Standing back to back around Tony, Abe gave Melissa and Diana a nod and all three of them opened fire with riot control rounds, sonic blasts or electrified pellets in the hopes that they would be able to stall their attackers.

"Abner why did you do it?" a voice croaked from somewhere off to the left. Abe turned his head and saw the form of the Ringer lurch from the fog, his body half melted away, his hands clutching his trademark set of weaponized rings. "You made me suffer for nothing; you're not even a villain any more."

"What I did to you was wrong." Abe replied, "You think that I don't see what I did every time I close my eyes. If I could trade places I would have but it's the past I can't do anything to help you."

"You're wrong, you can suffer." The Ringer snapped as he threw a ring, the projectile 'ghosting through Abe's armor before solidifying around his waist. Looking down Abe saw numbers counting down from thirty on the band as he tried to pull it off to no avail, the count down reached zero and the ring exploded. Screaming Abe looked at his hands to see charred bone poking out from the remaining slithers of burnt flesh. With an angry snarl he wrapped his hands around the wing-blade on his back and slashed through the Ringer's form causing the apparition to dissipate.

"You were never real." Abe whispered as he looked over to the circle he had broken. Diana was still standing, firing at shapes moving through the fog but Melissa was struggling, a sonic shield pulled across her arms as she slithered backwards on her knees in the mud. "Melissa fight it, the apparitions are only real if you believe they are."

Melissa heard some white noise coming from what seemed far away, she couldn't here what had been yelled over the Green Goblin's cackle as the fiend scratched at her shield with sickle like claws, flakes of sonic energy chipping off until he stuck his head through and cackled causing her ears to bleed. "Do you know how long I have waited to do this?" the Green Goblin cackled as he grabbed Melissa by the neck. "Since you opened that pretty mouth of yours." the fiend continued dragging his victim away to the side of the road. "Now my Songbird sing for me."

Melissa opened her mouth and tried to scream but all that came out was a goblinesque cackle, one that caused the Green Goblin to smile and add his own laugh into the mix. As she laughed Melissa blinked and saw her reflection in the Goblin's armor, revealing a woman with goblin like features staring back at her with cruel eyes. "Why you're just like me, all I had to do is peel off the heroic layers of skin you're true self was hiding behind."

"I am not like you." Melissa yelled and the force of her words sent the goblin flying back. Getting to her feet Melissa walked over and summoned a sonic axe, her eyes glowing in the darkness causing eerie shadows to run across the goblin's chest.

"You…you won't kill me." the Goblin yammered his body melting to reveal the human features of Norman Osborne.

"I would be doing the world a favour." Melissa hissed swinging the axe before detonating her construct into a shower of blue sparks over Norman's face. "But if I did then I would be no better then you." As she finished talking Norman's form rippled before returning to the mist that it had been made from. Looking around Melissa saw Abe walking over to Tony while Diana scanned the surroundings, as the mist figures retreated, some walking back with a solid form while others simply reverted back to fog disappearing completely.

"Okay that was way creepy." Melissa stated as Abe helped Tony to his feet. "Anybody have a clue what's going on?"

"It wasn't a virus that penetrated you're systems." Diana stated. "No virus acts that quickly. In addition you're sonic filter and Iridium's armor systems stayed intact. I can only speculate but I would suggest that you came in contact with an agent that can diffuse through the skin barrier. At current my biological scanners are analyzing samples that my internal security networks were able to quarantine before they accessed any of my organic systems."

"But the only thing we all came in contact with was the fog." Abe replied. "In fact it was exactly as the mist rolled in that we started to experience the visions."

"So you're saying we are marinating in fear gas or whatever is causing the hallucinations." Melissa spat. "We could relapse at any time."

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Abe announced. "But I think as long as we know that the visions are just that, knowing that maybe we can fend it off until we destroy the source of this nightmare. I say we head for the church, the spire appears to be above the mist."

"Better then the plan I had." Tony moaned, "Which was running and hiding."

As the Thunderbolts advanced into town only Melissa kept count of the number of bodies that were lying all over the streets; some were dead, most were worse, trapped in their own heads as fear gnawed at their bodies. Silently she accessed what they knew about the terrifying situation that had grasped Port Angeles. There were a number of villains and entities that could be responsible causing Melissa to try and determine what they were up against. The Worthy were her initial culprits but she quickly realised that while the timing of both events was similar there had been no reports of fog at any of the affected sites. Her next guess was Alan Fagan AKA Mister Fear, it was defiantly close to his MO but the effects were lasting too long plus the fact that just days before she and Abe had left Melissa had seen Fagan incarcerated in the Raft. It also didn't explain the strange animal behaviour either; Fagan's drugs were set up to effect humans only, other animals simply died if they were exposed to a large quantity. She shivered, it was strangely cold for a late August evening, even at these latitudes and she doubted that it had anything to do with the gas but it somehow made everything more sinister.

"Melissa are you okay?" Abe asked. "You looked like you were drifting off."

"Oh I was just figuring something out." Melissa answered giving Abe a nervous smile. "Do you realize that tomorrow it will be a fortnight since we left Burton Canyon."

"It will also be September." Abe commented, "But yeah I know it doesn't seem possible."

"I have a theory." Melissa stated, "About the gas. Revenant is the chemical an organic adrenal enhancer."

"It has markers in common with most known adrenaline boosters." Diana replied, "I still haven't found a match or anything that will counter the effects."

"Don't bother." Melissa told her. "The gas is meta-produced. My hunch is that Port Angeles is being affected by Ebenezer Laughton AKA the Scarecrow. It explains the hallucinations, the animal attacks and how it easily affected us."

"Laughton escaped when Marko slit the Raft open." Abe added, "He's still on the loose. If he is here then we have to find him, technically it was our responsibility to keep that freak on a leash."

"One problem with you're theory." Diana said her voice grating. "His power's only affect people within a certain radius. From what his SHIELD file states the pheromones he produces only have a thirty meter radius. Everything matches except that"

"Please tell me that you didn't alert SHIELD to the hack." Abe moaned.

"I just used a back door installed into the system." Diana replied, "And no I didn't leave any trace of my hack. Is there anyway that this Scarecrow could have boosted his powers"

"I plan to ask him when I catch him." Abe told her before looking around the street. "Shit where did Melissa go."

As soon as Diana had started critiquing her theory Melissa spotted movement, it was small but defiantly human (or close to it) and for a brief second Melissa knew that she shouldn't follow. A second later she started running, using her sonic energy to quicken her stride and catch up with the fleeing humanoid. Darting down an alley and vaulting a chain link fence Melissa saw her prey run across the street and hop over the broken window into a mini-mart. Melissa frowned, was she chasing something real, she shook her head, from what she could tell from the glimpses she had seen her quarry was a small child. Striding across the street she ducked in through the window and saw who she was hunting, uneasiness turned to joy.

"Gunna." she called, "Troll it's me, it's Songbird."

Troll looked up and pointed with a long bony finger and Melissa turned to see what she was pointing at. Behind her there seemed to be a rolling wall of darkness, its black surface glistening due to the moisture caused by the condensing fog. "Gunna get behind the counter and cover you're ears."

"Little Troll won't be hiding anywhere." a voice said from behind Melissa, causing her to spin round just as a knife came throwing at her. Reaching out, her hands shrouded in sonic energy Melissa caught the knife as Bullseye clapped sardonically before pulling another blade of his belt.

"Bullseye you're not real." Melissa said calmly, "Neither are you Venom, you don't even have the Symbiote anymore Mac." she added addressing the hulking dark form stood behind her. "You are nothing but figments of my imagination summoned up by a madman and his bad science experiment."

"And what about me?" a female voice purred as Melissa felt something stroke her neck. Grabbing the hand she pulled the assailant over her shoulder before stepping on her neck. "Moonstone, figured that you might make a cameo." Melissa snarled. "I'll admit you guys scare me but I'm not afraid of you."

"But Melissa." Moonstone cooed, "We just facilitate you're fears, you are afraid that people will think that you are a monster just like us. But guess what, this disguise," Melissa felt Venom wrapped his tentacles over her clothes, round her hands and feet, even wrapping his tongue round her face. "It's got to come off." she finished sticking her hands through Mac's Symbiote matter and pulling Melissa out. "Now run little girl." she added as Venom stood aside and let Melissa run past him, leaping through the shop window she rolled, her skin cut by the glass before seeing Abe and Diana vault the fence and stand across the street from her.

"Abe, Di thank god. Venom, Bullseye and Moonstone are here." Melissa said panting.

"Who is that?" Diana asked Abe.

"Screaming Mimi." Abe replied, "A pathetic lost little girl playing dress-up."

"Abe don't you know who I am." Melissa screamed, the words erupting out and causing Diana to exploded into a hundred fragments of metal while Abe covered his ears, blood leaking out of all his orifices before collapsing. Melissa put her hand to her mouth and walked over, reflected in the blood she saw herself, once again dressed up in her old Screaming Mimi getup. And standing behind her was Bullseye, sneering as he fingered a Sai in his hand.

"Please don't." Melissa squeaked.

"You're nothing but a disappointment Melissa just like you're fucking mother." Bullseye roared in a voice that was not his own before plunging the Sai into her back. As she fell Melissa saw Bullseye's reflection take off his mask and saw her father's face sneering at her before disappearing. And without meaning too Melissa started to scream as fear clutched at her bosom and made itself at home.

Abe heard Melissa scream and saw flashes of pink erupt from a nearby street, with a roar he took off and headed down the alley leaving Diana alone in the street. Smashing through a wooden door and into a shop selling knick-knacks for tourists Abe saw Melissa lying on the floor, her body butchered as a pair of hoods with machetes stood over her. Angrily Abe slashed through both of them knocking them to the side before bending over Melissa and feeling her pulse fade before stop.

"No." Abe screamed just as flashing blue lights started up and the sound of knocking could be heard. Abe ignored it and cradled Melissa closing her eyes and sobbing as he held her hands, as if to comfort her. The door crashed open and silhouetted against the lights of the police car stood Diana dressed up like a slutty police officer.

"Abe what have you done?" she asked walking over and looming over him.

"They killed her." Abe yammered pointing at the two hoods. Diana walked over and pulled the first one's jumped off revealing another Melissa, this one bleeding out and gulping for air. Abe begun to choke as Diana looked at him and walked to the second and removed her hood as well to reveal a third Melissa this one blue as if she had been strangled.

"Chief we found him." Diana called into her radio. "Yes I repeat the mass murderer Abner Roland Jenkins had been found."

"Mass Murderer?" Abe asked.

"Duh." Diana announced waving at the knick-knacks on the shelves all of them dead women dressed like Songbird. Abe got to his feet and pulled out a pistol shooting Diana in the head, the bullet rippling through her causing her features to morph into those of Melissa's. As she fell Diana screamed, "Let the punishment fit the crime." before the call was taken up by all the dead Melissas, massive rove beetles crawling from their bodies and swarming over him. Screaming Abe fell to the floor thrashing clawing at the non existent beetles as he too submitted to fear.

Diana walked along the main-street heading for the church. Abe and Melissa had seemingly vanished and something was blocking her scanners from locating them. Luckily none of her systems appeared to be compromised by the Scarecrow's fear pheromones, at least not yet, she mused. Opening the cast iron gate, its hinges squeaking Diana saw hundreds of eyes staring at her from the trees. Lighting up an exterior panel of her costume she saw they were crows, all staring at her, all of them gleaming like extensions of the darkness. So distracted as she was by the crows, Diana almost missed the church doors opening and the gaunt figure that emerged, its face covered in a burlap sack, while its ragged body had a noose tied around its neck as long bony fingers drummed on the pitchfork it held.

"You must be the Scarecrow." Diana announced, "Surrender and give me a cure to this madness."

"You must be fearless to have made it this far." The Scarecrow hissed, "I so rarely am challenged these days especially with all the backwoods idiots that populate this miserable town."

"I am not fearless; I just know how to control my fear when I feel it." Diana stated morphing her hand into a four barrelled blaster. "One last chance, give me the antidote." The Scarecrow cackled before springing forward, pitchfork out stretched to skewer Diana as the Thunderbolt evaded the attack and opened fire, a blaster shot striking her attacker but not coming anywhere near close enough to stop him. Spinning around the Scarecrow lashed out again with the fork tripping his target and sending her flailing to the floor, a few wild blaster shots clipping parts of the church and sending chunks of masonry falling to the ground as he followed up his attack stabbing Diana through the chest with his fork.

"Everyone knows fear." the Scarecrow sneered, "Now tell me yours before I die. I need my jollies after all."

Diana blinked and watched as a warning light flashed on her built in HUD as the fear pheromones penetrated her deep tissue layers. Her cyber-chemo defences would kick in soon but in the mean time she would have to get away from the Scarecrow. "I'm afraid." Diana whispered causing the Scarecrow to smile and lean in to listen. "I'm afraid you're an idiot." she told him before firing a blast at him sending the Scarecrow flying as she scrabbled to her feet, ripped out the pitchfork and ran holding her chest as her enemy sprung to his feet with an agile flip and picked up his pitchfork. "I will find you." he called after her, his voice causing the crows to scream and fly from their roosts. "My dear, fear always finds you." he cackled before retreating back into the church.

Diana ran panting, half limping as she looked for a sanctuary from the monsters chasing her, their mechanical feet pounding like drums as their forced smiley faces gleamed in the light of her lit panel. Dashing left she slipped and fell smashing her head against a parked car as the Right exoskeletons clustered around her, their weapons trained on her, ready to fire.

"You are not what I fear, not anymore." Diana told the smiles, "I beat you and learnt how to defeat you."

"But you cower before Me." an old and terribly powerful voice announced as the smiles were picked up in the air and smashed together, melting to form one giant form. "You disappoint me, I gave you a chance to serve me but instead you flee like a common criminal."

"No I won't serve you again." Diana announced through gritted teeth. "Nor will I run from you anymore My Lord." she added.

"Then you will die." the man announced before using his powers to rip her apart causing her head to roll down the street before being forced to look up as the armoured and helmeted man hovered above her before fading into mist. Diana closed her eyes, trapped in her nightmare, as she lay face up on the street, her systems compromised as Fear took the last of the Thunderbolts as her own.

* * *

**Thunderbolts #11**

Melissa stabbed in the back? Abe consumed by beetles? Diana ripped apart and left in the street? As fear takes the Thunderbolts an unusual hero arrives. Will he arrive in time and will his heroics leave a burning impression on the Thunderbolts? Find out in the finale of 'A Town Called Fear'.


	12. A Town Called Fear - Part III

The sound of screaming echoed around Port Angeles, the sonically amplified screams of Songbird penetrating the darkness. Standing on the edge of town, leaning on the motorcycle that his employee had given him the man dressed in biker leathers flipped open a chunky mobile phone and dialled the only number saved onto the SIM card. He waited as the phone rung twice before being picked up by his contact.

"I'm at the CDC's barricade around the Port." he told the person on the other end of the phone. "What should I expect to find inside?"

"A large number of casualties but I am only worried about two of them. Skylark and Iridium must be extracted and they must be alive and undamaged, do you understand me?"

"I understand you. What of the third member of the team? Revenant I think her call sign was. What are my instructions for her?"

"Whatever you like." the voice answered, "She is not part of our plans but so far she has not shown any sign that she would cause any problems. Before you go in make sure that you're suit is sealed."

"Because of the disease that is eating the city right." the agent stated removing an armoured pair of gauntlets and sealed hazmat suit complete with gas-mask and oxygen cylinder. "You know I hate costumes right?" he asked as he pulled the helmet over his head, brushing his shoulder length hair so that it would be trapped inside the suit.

"And do you realize that while I hold you're beloved in my custody that you are my creature?"

"I do you fucking wanker. No reason to rub it in." the agent spat, "So when I get the targets you'll send exfill to the LZ and then you and I are done."

"As long as both targets meet the specifications that we set you are." the voice commanded, "Oh and Mr. Colchiss fail me and you're precious Sylvie dies, we may even be generous and just let the cancer do it but trust us she will die." Colchiss closed the phone and squeezed it in his hand until the device begun to bubble and hiss before being liquidated into chemical slurry that leaked through his fingers and onto the floor. Taking a few steps towards the town he looked back towards the mountains, it would be easy to run but he knew if he ever wanted to see the woman he loved again that he would do what his employer told him to do, even if it meant doing the worst things imaginable.

Diana watched the progress bar slowly fill as her bodies electronically and chemical defence network begun to report initial success against the pheromones invasion of her body. She frowned the progress was taking too long; it had been four hours since they had arrived in town. If Abe and Melissa were infected it might be too late to save them even as her body created a partial antidote to the Scarecrow's chemical assault. How had the Scarecrow even managed to infect Melissa and Abe without them even being in proximity to him? Silently she brought up the villain's information for the fifth time that hour but there still was no clue to who or what could have aided the Scarecrow in spreading the poison across the city.

Running through every article she could find about Port Angeles, Diana was blinded by a cyclone of data ranging from the renovation of the church to the school timetables; nothing seemed to stand out, no small piece of data twinkling like salvation for her friends. Cursing Diana ran the search again re-arranging everything in date order, watching numbers and titles dash around her HUD before spotting a familiar article. It was about the construction of a new spire for the church, the completion date was in a few years yet Diana was almost certain that she had seen the building completed not a few hours ago. Somehow the Scarecrow had finished the construction and installed a device that spread his pheromones over the town, perhaps even further since animals seemed to be affected as far away as Forkes. Straining Diana staggered to her feet, the damage from the Scarecrow's attack only partially repaired. With a grimace of pain she moved her leg, the mechanized parts still offline, and took a step towards the church, now she knew what she had to do.

Christopher Colchiss AKA the Melter walked down town actively avoiding the cowering townspeople. Not that the majority were aware of him but those that were had growled at him from the shadows, their brains reverted to a feral mush by whatever had infected the town. What had happened in the city was terrible and deep down inside something that had been long dormant stirred as Chris walked deeper into the infected zone. He had always wanted to be a hero ever since he had accidently killed his mother and father but due to the nature of his powers he had been forced to play the villain. Maybe when he was done with this assignment, when Sylvie was safe he would try again although he had little idea who in the hero community would support him. Shaking his head Chris heard something move and saw a woman sneak into an alleyway, silently he followed watching as she ducked inside a boarded up shop.

"Abe." Diana said bending down at the stricken man's side as he screamed and thrashed. "Hopefully this will work." she added as she forced one of her nails to elongate into a syringe, grunting with the pain of completing the transformation.

"Stop right there." a voice announced behind her. Diana paused, the voice seemed real but so had the master's shortly after the Scarecrow had attacked her. At least she could rule that fiend out of the list of possible suspects, the tone was very different. "Stand up and turn around." the voice commanded "Do it slowly." Sighing Diana stood up and turned to see a man in a hazmat suit, his hands covered in metal gauntlets.

"Are you the cavalry?" she asked dryly.

"Drop the syringe and step away from the body." the man announced.

"Can't do that." Diana snorted, "Now back up and let me administer the urgh." Something had smacked her on the back and sent her sprawling at the hazmat guy's feet. Looking up she saw Abe clutching his sword, his gauntlets charged and sparking with energy. It was clear he was still demented from the alternating cackles and sobs that he was emitting from behind his mask and Diana hoped that there was enough of a mind left to cure, who knew what the long term effects of the pheromones was.

"Don't worry Melissa I'm going to save you." Abe cackled swishing the sword around. "We will be together." he added thrusting the sword down towards Revenant's chest. The blade never made it there, its tip melting as Diana kicked up knocking her former teammate back before getting to her feet. With a scream Abe leapt at her but his movements were feral and very predictable, allowing his prey to sidestep him and elbow slam him in the back of the neck. With a hiss Abe turned and slashed with his gauntleted hands, the blow leaving a charred imprint on Diana's chest as she grabbed his arm and tried to remove one of the armoured plates before being thrown off.

"Iridium surrender I have orders to extract and escort both you and Skylark to a secure medical facility." Chris yelled at Abe causing the feral monstrosity to glare at him before charging at the speaker as he emitted a gargling roar. Chris braced for the attack and ducked under the charging Thunderbolt before grabbing his arm and flipping him onto his back. "I just want to help you." Chris snarled as Abe pawed at his arm spitting and snarling as he was pinned to the floor.

"If you want to help him remove one of the arm bracers on his suit." Diana snapped as she helped restrain Abe. "I have a partial antidote to the chemical effects but I'm not strong enough to remove his armor when he's like this." Chris nodded and watched as Diana slammed Abe's head back down to the floor as he tried to snap at her. With a deep breath he slammed his fist into Abe's left arm bracer and watched as it bubbled away leaving a red smear on the skin below. Scrabbling over the struggling Thunderbolt, Diana jammed the syringe into his flesh before retracting the tip. With a howl of anger Abe threw both her and Chris off and picked up the melted remains of his sword, the tip still smoking before towering over them snickering to himself. "I must protect you Melissa." he screamed before plunging the sword into his chest, the tip slicing through his chest plate but not going any further, the melted tip stopping short of his flesh. Falling to his knees he began to sob as Diana walked over and removed his mask. "Why can't I save you Mel." he cried as he hallucinated Melissa looking into his eyes, her features skull like as she punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious.

Diana rubbed her knuckle, she still was running on her biological systems as the robotic part of her body continued to fight the invading pheromones. "Okay lady." Chris yelled behind her, "Tell me what the fuck is going on before I melt something you'll need later."

"Maybe you should calm down while I inoculate you." Diana snarled back. "I don't know if you're infected but I am not taking any chances."

"Infected with what?"

"Pheromones! A felon called the Scarecrow is holding the townspeople hostage to their fears." Diana replied, "Not let me inject you so you don't get infected as well."

"You keep that thing away from me." Chris snapped, "I don't even know who you are."

"My code name is Revenant and since you know Iridium and Sky Lark I assume that you're lying or very badly informed."

"Oh right," Chris sighed, "Sorry but we have no file photos of you. My name is Chris but I go by the call sign of Melter. The CSA and CDC are running a joint mission and sent me in when their satellites detected supers going into the city limits. There is a reason the place is quarantined but I guess they didn't know that err the Scarecrow was in town. Ouch." As he was talking Diana jabbed him with the syringe, she wasn't sure if she could trust Chris but he seemed to be an ally for the moment and that was good enough. It also didn't help that behind the suit he was kind of cute, silently Diana cursed her human hormones rocketing out of control, usually her mechanical side kept such things in check but alas at the moment they were occupied.

"So does the needle thing work?" Chris asked. "I'm just saying that the suicide king there didn't seem in control of his actions."

"Hormonal changes take time, my guess is that reducing the level of adrenaline in his system is only half the battle, as long as the pheromones are in the air it's a losing battle. That's why we need to get to the church and destroy the source as well as capture the Scarecrow." Diana explained, "If you can use you're powers to level the structure I'll deal with Laughton."

"Sorry that's not in my mission parameters." Chris stated as Diana scribbled something on a post-it before attaching it to Abe's chest plate.

"Part of you're mission is to protect me right?" Diana asked Chris before he nodded. "Good, protect me then." she added as she brushed past him and headed back towards the street. Chris rubbed the area where she had jabbed him before shrugging and following her into the fog. From where Abe had been left it was only a short trip to the church and the two 'heros' stood outside and looked up to the spire, the whole area still save for the occasional crow ruffling it's feathers.

"So do we knock?" Chris asked as Diana opened the church doors and peaked inside. The smell was terrible, the pews were filled with the dead as the beheaded priest stood at the alter as if he was midway through a sermon. Silently Diana led the way through the room, there was nobody living in the chamber save her and Chris, if the Scarecrow had been here, he would already have attacked. That very thought wasn't comforting, Diana knew that her foe was agile and armed; she couldn't even count on her ally. Maybe 'Chris' was another apparition, one formed to lead her to Laughton so that he could finish the job he had started. "Found the stairs." Chris announced, his voice echoing through the hall. "I've melted through the lock so we can get up to the spire." Diana nodded and put a finger to her lips before entering the stairwell and climbing up the curved staircase.

Reaching the first landing she slid over and watched Chris melt the lock before opening the door to peek inside. Slumped in a chair was the Scarecrow he seemed to be asleep but it could be a ruse, the convincing snoring included. Carefully Diana edged out and stood next to the sleeping villain before carefully jabbing the needle into his arm and retracting it as she pumped the antidote into his body. Walking up to join her Chris pointed to a computer on the end of a desk as she attempted to remove the noose from the villain's neck. With a grunt the Scarecrow slapped at her but didn't awaken and at last she got what she had been after, quickly tying the fiend to the chair he slept on.

"Looks like Scarecrow was bottling something." Chris announced as Diana left Scarecrow where he sat. "Got a bio-hazard sticker on the canisters." he added gesturing to a neatly stacked cage of gas tanks.

"All the more reason to crack the computers open." Diana replied, "If he was shipping this crap I want to know where the hell it is being sent."

Abe awoke with a grunt and looked down at the sword embedded in his chest before groaning in relief. Using the counter he got to his feet and wrapped his hands around the blade and removed it before disconnecting the breast plate to survey the damage. It looked as if he had been fortunate, the armor had held up just enough to prevent the blade from penetrating his body, the blade itself had been melted and probably would have been able to cleave him in two if it still had been sharp. Replacing the breast-plate Abe removed the sticker and crumpled it in his hand, Diana had headed for the church to confront Scarecrow, in his heart Abe knew it was the right thing to do but instead he decided to find Melissa. His suit's acoustic tracker would make the job easy, the hard part would be making Melissa snap out of what fear inspired nightmare she was going through.

Heading up the scaffolding Diana let her processers store the data for later analysis, while she had some electronic systems back online the majority where fighting off the chemical attack and working on a more effective inoculation. As she ascended the fog became less dense and with a triumphant stride she broke through the clouds and came to a second landing as Chris stumbled up the last step to join her. The floor space of the top layer of the spire was taken up by a large number of pipes leading up to a column, it's side covered with miniature chimneys that vented jets of pheromone laced fog, the gas quickly descending, as dials monitored the remaining capacity of the canisters attached to each of the supply pipes.

"Hopefully we can take the down out of melt down if I use my powers on this." Chris stated, "Well here goes." he added reaching out with his abilities, the tanks already burning before shooting out gouts of flame that raced through the machine and ignited the fog before spreading across the town.

"Well that wasn't subtle." Diana mused, "But it looks as if the pheromone content of the atmosphere is dropping, hopefully all the infected will have to do is wait for their bodies to purge themselves." she added.

"And maybe all you have to do is re-submit to fear." the Scarecrow hissed as he climbed up through the fog, his body smouldering as he spun his pitchfork. "You will never be able to defeat me."

Abe watched a fire spread across the sky and a rain of burning cinders fell onto the street melting holes in the tarmac and scorching the concrete. The infected residents of Port Angeles seemed to have enough sense to run for cover, the majority ducking into buildings while others ran screaming for the outskirts of town. One figure didn't scream or run, she simply stood in the middle of the street staring at the floor as Abe ran towards her.

"Melissa." Abe yelled, "Melissa its Abe."

"Abe?" Melissa replied as she kept her head bowed. "Have you come to rescue me?" she added her voice sounding almost child like with a hint of mania creeping around the edges.

"Yes Mel I have, you have to believe me when I say what ever you're seeing right now isn't real."

"I know." Melissa replied, "Abner Jenkins isn't a hero." she looked up and Abe saw blood smeared around her lips and in her hair, even over her eyes giving them a menacing glow. "Why didn't you save me when I needed you?"

"Melissa please you have to trust me." Abe yelled

"I do." Melissa stated as she pulled a pistol out of her pocket. Abe ran trying to cover the distance, to reach her before she pulled the trigger but he was too late as a gunshot rang out and a body hit the floor.

The Scarecrow ran at the pair of saboteurs like an enraged bull, hoping to gore them with his pitchfork. As he reached them they dived out the way and his fork shattered on the surface of his fog machine. Spinning around he saw the woman slam her fist into his gut, the blow hitting him surprisingly hard, usually his powers reduced the pain he felt. Quickly he blocked her next blow and shoved her back as the man tackled him and knocked him to the floor before picking him up and throwing him down the stairs. With a scream of pain, he grabbed the banister and saw that his opponents had already followed him down into the burning church.

"Do you fear what will happen to me?" the Scarecrow cackled as he picked up a scythe leaning against the wall next to the door down to the main hall. "You needn't bother I have no fear of the flames. I'm ready to die but I will not be denied you're deaths. And when you die I will see the fear in you're eyes as you learn what awaits meddling kids like you." he screeched as he leapt across the room thrashing wildly with the scythe. With a quick dodge Diana evaded the blow and disarmed the villain throwing the scythe away before being slapped in the face as her opponent tried to free himself. A second blow caused Diana to recoil and the Scarecrow giggled manically as he slammed her face first into the cage full of the fear canisters. His counter attack was short lived; with a punch Chris knocked him to the floor as Diana slid out of reach

"You forgot to mention our dumb dog as well." Chris joked as Diana pulled herself up. "We'd better get out of her before…" his words were cut off as the Scarecrow slammed him round the face with a canister before beginning to smash his prone form with the metal butt. Reaching to intercept Chris caught the canister the third time his attacker dropped it, his powers melting the valve and causing the pheromones to leak out dousing the Scarecrow with his own fear gas.

"You think that my own powers can be turned against me?" the Scarecrow sneered.

"Actually you have no powers. I inoculated you when we came in, it effectively neutralizes everything. I suppose you noticed that you're slower, weaker and can't take a punch as well as you used to." Diana stated. The Scarecrow looked down at the canister before running to the window and jumped off the edge screaming. Dashing after him Diana grabbed him and dragged him back inside before knocking him out. "Idiot." she hissed, "You believe you're own hype way too much."

"Revenant the burning church." Chris stated, "Time to leave." Diana smiled and threw the unconscious villain at him before jumping out the window, landing on the ground below unhurt. "Show-off." Chris muttered. "I think we'll take the stairs."

Melissa walked down the street her head bowed as she carried Abe his body bleeding from the gun-shot wound to the chest. As soon as he had pulled the gun away from her head she had begun to come round but she still had pulled the trigger. Acting quickly she had used her powers to harmonically disintegrate the bullet and had placed a sonic barrier over the wound but it still wasn't enough to save him. Tripping she fell down outside the church, Abe's body rolling a good ten feet as the church spire exploded, chunks of stone and slate flying through the air like shrapnel.

"Melissa." Diana yelled as she spotted her fallen team mate. "My god what happened."

"I didn't mean to." Melissa sobbed, "I was still living my nightmare and Abe tried to save me. He didn't know I had a gun until too late."

"This is bad we need to close the wound up or he'll be dead in minutes." Diana announced as she checked Abe's body. "Help me carry him, we need to find Chris."

"Chris?" Melissa asked. "I'm guessing it's a long story." she added. Diana nodded and helped carry Abe to the church as the door melted and Chris sprinted out, the Scarecrow slung over his shoulder. Dropping the felon he ran over and pulled his helmet off before putting his hand over his mouth. "Listen Chris I need you to cauterize the wound."

"I can't." Chris replied, "My powers are…unpredictable."

"Listen to me." Diana snapped, "I wouldn't ask you to do it if I didn't think you could. I analyzed you're abilities so I know that you are capable of doing this. This is you're chance to become more, to be the hero." Chris nodded and held his hand over Abe's chest and closed his eyes concentrating on delivering the right amount of power to seal the ruptured blood vessel. Opening them he saw that not only had he closed the artery but he had also sealed the skin as well. Pushing him out the way Melissa took Abe's pulse and screamed. "No Abe you can not fucking well die. We were Masters of Evil together, Thunderbolts together and I know that you are tougher then this. A stupid gun held by a scared woman is not going to stop you." As she finished she kissed him hoping it would revive him, hoping he would kiss her back. There was no response and she collapsed crying as Diana put her arm around her. "He's gone." Melissa cried, "I killed him." Behind her Abe spluttered and touched her hand.

"You're right." he coughed, his touch causing her to flinch, "You killed me. By the way it hurts like hell." Still sobbing Melissa kissed him again before holding his head in her hands.

"Scare me like that again and you will wish you were dead."

* * *

Epilogue

Abe strolled out of the hospital in Forkes, a doctor had inspected his wound but had been confused, suggesting that he had received it a few months earlier and that there were no signs of infection. Heading into the town centre he quickly spotted Melissa, Diana and Chris sitting outside a café all drinking coffees and enjoying the mid-morning sunshine. Ebenezer Laughton had been taken off their hands minutes after the church exploded and the National Guard had sprung into action an hour later to help the citizens of Port Angeles recover from their weeks of exposure to the Scarecrow's pheromones. All in all it felt like a win, the team even had a new name, the Highway Patrol and already stories were spreading around Washington state abut what had happened. Some people had already linked them to the events in Newcastle but nobody was saying a word to four normal people sitting at a cafe in Forkes.

"So Chris where are you heading?" Melissa asked.

"Well I am officially unemployed." Chris replied, "I've got my bike so maybe I will go see America, help people like you guys do. Oh and you're secret its safe with me, I don't think anybody would believe me if I told them anyway."

"You know you could come with us." Abe stated. "I watched you in the Raft and read you're file, you are a perfect candidate for the Thunderbolt programme."

"You're being serious." Chris spluttered, "Man I would love that but I don't know, my powers are hit and miss, I could have killed you."

"But you didn't and I am very grateful for that by the way." Abe stated, "Everybody has problems with their powers. Hell back when we started the Thunderbolts Melissa couldn't fly at all and now I figure she could out-fly the entire air force if she wanted."

"Plus it wouldn't hurt to have some back-up." Diana added, "For all of us. I hate to say it but the Scarecrow almost beat us and from what I have seen he is just one of the many dangerous super villains still absent from the Raft. Crossfire, the Brothers Grimm, Death Stalker and the U-Foes are just some of the others who would cause us problems if we came across them. And while I loved the three against the world we do need help with what we find."

"Then I'm in." Chris announced, "If you'll have me."

The man pressed pause and turned to the two other people sitting around the table before addressing the man on the TV screen.

"I must applaud you Silent Partner." the dark skinned man announced, "You took what we gave you and came up with results beyond what we could expect."

"Laughton's operation was spiralling out of my control anyway." the man on the screen answered, "He was supplying the pheromones to the Hood. At current Parker Robbins represents only a minor irritant to my plans and by extension yours so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone."

"And we can trace Mr. Colchiss with the tracking nanites you implanted?" the blonde woman asked. "Does he know that he's carrying them?"

"The idiot is unaware that he is still my creature. I have assured him that my surgeons will help his Enchantress."

"Is it wise to keep her alive?" the dark skinned man asked.

"Ms King, Mr Umbridge, Mr Lane you asked me to do a great many things." the Silent Partner replied. "The Asgardian will be a powerful weapon against the Thunderbolts. Soon you will have what it needs for the main agenda to succeed and I assure you that when it comes for the final part to fall into place the Thunderbolts will not be a threat. The only thing I have is my word so you can take that to the bank."

"Very well." Lane sighed, "Just remember what we are offering you. Cross us and the Thunderbolts will not be the only ones to fall to the power of F.A.C.T"

* * *

**Thunderbolts #12**

The Thunderbolts are California bound and heading for a relaxing weekend in wine country. Of course they would be lucky to get that as they discover a deadly secret hidden under the vineyards of the Napa Valley. Not to mention they are about to enter the territory of the state's most well known superheroes; the X-Men.


	13. Curse of the Scorpion Tree - Part I

Lights flashed in the large chamber as a woman sat in the only chair in the room, her diamond skin glistening as the head-piece she wore blinked on and off intermittently. Carefully she removed the helmet and got up from her seat, her skin morphing back from hardened gem-stone to human flesh clad in tight fitting lycra top and white pants as she walked towards the door. Exiting the chamber she arrived in a large conference room and surveyed the team of mutants sitting around the main table, all waiting for her to speak.

"We know that the Phoenix is returning and that the Avengers plan to appose us over whether it should be destroyed or embraced. We will come into conflict with them, of that I am sure but that is not what I found while I searched for her." the woman announced. "I found a signal created by a mutant, one that I have seen intermittently for days."

"So who does this mystery signal belong too?" the armoured form of Colossus asked, "And are they friend or foe?"

"The signal matches that of Sage. I know that at least some of Logan's team will support the Avengers. That is why I want to scramble a team to capture her and persuade her to join us. Scott I would ask for you're permission before I do this."

"You are suggesting that we abduct her." Cyclops stated, "Emma you might have forgotten that Sage is a powerful combatant and if she chooses to stand against us, be a deadly foe."

"All the more reason to recruit her now, before she chooses that path." Emma replied, "That is not the only reason I believe we should act quickly. At current she travels with another mutant, a felon wanted for second degree murder, his name is Christopher Colchiss AKA the Melter and while he has never been an enemy to us I know that he admires the Avengers."

"This boy, would it not also be wise to recruit him as well?" Magneto asked rubbing one of his hands over his arm, "If he is mutant he might be sympathetic to our cause."

"No." Cyclops said, his voice cutting through the air like a knife grating cheese. "Emma we must be careful, if Sage is unwilling to join us and we force her to then we may alienate others who are undecided."

"So you are telling me to forget about Sage?" Emma replied.

"No, find her and convince her to join us but be careful, this could blow up in our face."

"Aren't I always?" Emma purred, "Don't worry Scott; she will join us, what possibly could keep her away."

* * *

Melissa winced as the wad of paper hit the back of her neck, she had been under such an assault for the last three hours and she was about to loose her temper. Abe wasn't helping much, he hadn't done a thing to stop Diana and Chris's attacks on her, and while he was driving, the least he could do was tell them to stop it.

"So you just put the paper in the straw." Diana said slowly holding a Burger King straw, "And blow." she added blowing through the straw, her breath sending the wad of paper splatting into Melissa's neck. "So this is something that everybody knows about."

"Yeah it's called spit-balling, I used to get a whole torrent of them fired at me when I was back at school." Chris answered, "It only serves to annoy other people but for the firer it's fun especially when you have someone who reacts easily."

"Ah spit-balling, I remember doing that back at college." Abe sighed, "And now I feel like a decrepit old man so stop it."

"Well I just feel wet." Melissa replied, "I mean my neck feels wet. Chris stop being a bad influence on Diana, she's already an evil super computer we don't have to upload a juvenile delinquent file onto her hard-drive."

"Come on its fun, are you telling me that you never did anything like this when you were young?" Chris asked as Abe stopped the car.

"When I was meant to be in high-school I was fighting the Avengers, screaming my lungs off and wrestling women twice my size." Melissa replied, "It's a miracle that I got into University."

"Why did we stop?" Diana asked as Abe slid out of the car.

"I figure that we could use a break since we barley got out of the car in Oregon." Abe announced.

"I am not going into the woods again." Melissa spat, "Oregon is all forest and full of things that bite. Plus every time we get out of the car in a random place we end up fighting super-villains."

"Name one place that happened?" Abe asked.

"Newcastle, Port Angeles and oh let's not forget the giant water bug that tried to eat us in Tacoma"

"I said name one." Abe answered, "Besides Doc Hopper found us that day not the other way round. As for the Pleasant Hill Vineyard, well I am very confident that there are no super criminals, maniacal despots or killer beasties lurking among the grapes. Plus they are offering wine tasting and there is a motel a mile down the road"

Melissa smiled, "It would be nice to do something the normal people do for a change."

Fifteen minutes later, Melissa was pleased that Abe had talked her into going on the Vineyard tour as they followed the guide to the first stop on the route. It had been an age since they had done something like this, and her clad in a yellow sundress and Abe wearing jeans and a chequered shirt looked like everyone else on the tour, happy and prosperous. Tapping him on the shoulder Melissa pointed to a clearing in the vines and put a finger over her mouth, Abe nodded and together they slipped away from the main group. The grove they found themselves in was beautiful, stone benches surrounding an island with a gnarled oak-tree in the centre, vines of honeysuckle draped across everything as the buzzing of bees drowned out the sounds of the tour group.

"This is nice and cosy." Abe commented, "So what's up?"

"We need to talk about us." Melissa replied, "Abe you and I have barley talked since Port Angeles."

"Well we did discuss plans about taking down Dr. Hopper." Abe stated, "Does that count?"

"No, that was Skylark and Iridium talking." Melissa answered, "Are we still together, and are we even still friends Abe?"

"Mel I will always be you're friend but…" he trailed off as Melissa frowned.

"But I'm always going to be the person who almost killed you." Melissa finished for him. "I said I was sorry about that like a million times."

"It's not that." Abe answered, "What I saw, what I did in that nightmare, it showed me what I really am. I'm a murderer and while I've paid my time I will always be afraid that one day I might, well I figure that you know."

"Abe." Melissa said stroking his cheek, "I don't care what you have done. We always have had to take the risk and it scares the hell out of me. But this." she leaned in and kissed him, "This is the one risk that I am not afraid to take."

"You two." a commanding voice boomed from behind Melissa and Abe. "This is private property, what are you doing here." Melissa turned to see a tall well built man in a security uniform, his hand resting on his baton glaring at them. Behind him a woman dressed in the same garb stood holding a pistol and scowling at them. "I will ask you again what are you doing here."

"I invited them here." a second voice announced, this one feminine and tinted with a Hispanic accent. Melissa turned again and saw a tall woman dressed in a black lace dress, her beautiful face haunted as she stared at the guard.

"Senorita Rosa." the man spluttered, "I had no idea, I am sorry for the disturbance." he added in a sarcastic sounding voice. "Come on we have other rounds to make." he told his partner before stalking back into the rows of vines.

"Thank you." Abe told Rosa, "Why did you do that?"

"Because my husband's guards are brutal, you would have no idea what they would have done if you had disturbed the alter." Rosa replied waving at the old tree.

"Alter?" Melissa asked.

"This tree is a replica of one found south of here." Rosa explained, "My husband saw it and planted an oak here as well. The alter comprises solely of the tree and the carving on the bark. Here have a look." she offered as Melissa and Abe stepped forward. Scratched on the bark was a six legged figure wearing a headdress and holding a pair of spheres.

"Nice what is it?" Melissa asked

"The Chumash who carved the original believed it to be a star-map but George my husband reckons that the figure is a fertility icon. I was sceptical at first but ever since the tree was planted the harvests have been exceptional. It is as if no insects or blight dare step into the vineyard and that is why my husband's guards keep people away." Rosa explained, "Now you must leave now. If Isabelle and Guillermo find you here again they may not be as lenient to you as they were before."

"One question before we leave." Abe asked, "Why tell us all this?"

"Because I am afraid for my husband." Rosa explained, "Ever since the tree was planted the harvest has been good but my husband had become cruel as if something terrible gnaws at his soul." Abe sighed before grabbing Melissa's arm and pulling her out of the glade. "Sorry about this but it looks as if our actionless afternoon just got short." he told her as they passed the two guards, feigning fake smiles as they headed for the exit.

Diana sat on the edge of the bed staring at the TV as the two women fought, wrecking the house the bout just happened to take place in. Beside her Chris put his hand in the box of cereal before removing some coloured loops and chewing loudly. Cocking her head to one side Diana scratched her arm instinctively until she could feel the metal plates and wires under her synthetic skin.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure fire away." Chris replied.

"Do you ever have a growing feeling of dread gnawing at you're CPU?" Diana asked.

"Dread yes but no CPU in this chassis." Chris replied, "What's troubling you?"

"This." Diana replied kissing him on the lips. Immediately Chris started moaning and the pair of them thudded onto the bed, both aggressively fighting to take control of the situation. Diana purred in pleasure as somebody tapped her on the shoulder, opening her eyes she saw Chris sitting next to her.

"You zoned out there." Chris announced as Diana rubbed her eyes. "What's up?"

"I was running a simulation." Diana replied, "It's nothing more then data presentation modules, trivial really."

"Okay then." Chris stated, "You sure you're okay?"

"I do have a question." Diana announced, "The title said one girl in the entire world ECT ect. So why were there two Slayers?"

"Cliff notes is Buffy died for a minute." Abe said as he stood in the door, "Kendra was called but then killed so then we got Faith who is evil. Sorry to barge in on the geek fest but we've got work to do, meet me and Mel next door, we may have something evil to deal with."

Forty minutes later the Thunderbolts were still sitting around the map of the vineyard spread across the coffee table as well as various images and mug shots. Abe looked around the room at his comrades; Diana looked pre-occupied, Chris look confused and Melissa looked as if she was going to throw something at him. Abe desperately hopped that at least one of them would understand the information he had discovered.

"Pretend I didn't understand a word of what you just told me." Chris finally said. "Run over it again."

"Melissa and I found an alter set up around the base of an oak tree with this image scratched on the trunk." Abe sighed pointing to a hand drawn image of the creature as well as photographs of the original. "We were unsure what it was so we put it up on the internet labelled as 'What does this mean?' and we got a result from DrOccult63-110."

"That is Dr Strange's forum ID and his opinion is one we can trust." Melissa added. "Diana verified that this information came straight out of Avengers Mansion."

"He called the creature the Scorpion Tree, a creature apposed to a Parthenon known as the Manidoog who were worshiped by the native Chumash people among others. From what we have seen and from what little information exists on the internet about this thing I can tell you that the creature makes deals. In the case of Pleasant Hills it fertilizes the soil as long as the landowner makes sacrifices in its name. The tree was planted five years ago according to records and cross-referencing that with missing persons, five people who used to work at the vineyard are now missing and presumed dead."

"Okay Evil Tree and/or Scorpion running the show at the Vineyard. I got that part but then you mention somebody called the Commeasure." Chris replied, "That is where I get lost."

"The Commeasure is a flamboyant arms dealer who appeared just under five years ago." Melissa explained. "He trades with everyone and I mean everyone. For example he sold six T-90 tanks to the Angolan Army last year. Luckily SHIELD broke up the deal but there are rumours that he's supplying American Super Villain tech to rouge nations and terrorist groups such as RAID as well as acting as a middle man between AIM and Hydra."

"And this fits in how?" Chris asked

"Because George Jimenez the owner of Pleasant Hills is moonlighting as the Commeasure. He's got a lot of money and most of it doesn't come from the overpriced bottles of wine he is selling." Abe announced. "That and we ran into two familiar faces earlier today; Isabella and Guillermo Flores or as they are more widely known as Whiplash and Backlash, the pair of them were members of the Thunderbolts during the Grandmaster escapade and both are considered dangerous felons by Interpol."

"So Evil Tree, Mob Boss and kinky S&M Villains, does that more or less cover it?"

"Pretty much." Melissa answered. "So I guess we torch the tree?"

"Not sure." Abe replied, "It is a god of sorts I doubt that something that simple would work, still we won't find out here, the last tour finishes in ten minutes. When everything closes Mel will fly us in and we will have a look at the Scorpion Tree in more detail."

The sun was still high in the sky as Melissa flew into the vineyard and dropped the rest of the team down by the Scorpion Tree. It hadn't been a stealthy incursion but it had been fast and that was always good. Despite being early autumn it was a cold evening and she began to regret her choice of costume as she perched on top of the tree keeping an eye out for any guards. Down below her Abe was chipping off the bark around the symbol with a combat knife as Chris and Diana watched him intently.

"Crap the Symbol can't be removed, the tree grows the bark back within seconds of me changing it." Abe cursed. "Chris you're up, try melting the tree, see if you can set the thing aflame." he ordered as he walked back to the bench.

"Okay let's burn this mother." Chris swore as he walked over and placed both hands on the tree. Seconds later the tree shook and creaked before sprouting leaves on the ends of its barren limbs. Chris spat before giving the tree a punch his anger visible at his apparent failure.

"Symbol still there?" Abe asked, "Back off Melter, Diana do you have any ideas?"

"One and it's noisy." Diana replied morphing the skin on her left arm into a bladed chain.

"I can spread a sound dampening field over the area." Melissa suggested hopping down from her perch. "Make it quick though, lights just went on up at the mansion house and the Flores's just came out the front door followed by Jimenez."

"Okay go." Abe ordered as Melissa spread a glowing blue aura around the tree muffling the sound as Diana started her arm mounted saw. Slamming the tree she started to cut through the trunk, sparks and sawdust flying as the blade dug into the trunk before stopping with a dull thud, ebony sap leaking over her hand. Withdrawing she watched with fascination as the sap coalesced and formed into a big black scorpion, bladed claws and barbed tail ready to strike. Quickly flicking it away Diana sighed the Scorpion Tree had already healed from the wound she had created and while it was still sitting harmlessly in front of them she felt something evil was emanating from the tree.

"So we call it a draw." Melissa suggested as Diana itched at the remaining sap that had leaked onto her hand. "Scorpion Tree - 0, Thunderbolts - 0."

"More like Scorpion Tree - 1, Thunderbolts - 0." Abe corrected her, "All we did was make it grow and that can't be good. Mel can you create a hard sound guillotine and slice the thing in two."

"Possibly but the real question is will it work?" Melissa answered, "And we are out of time we have hostiles arriving in three, two, and one." With a thud Chris, Abe and Melissa were thrown back away from the tree leaving Diana still standing. Silhouetted against the grape vines stood the feminine form of Emma Frost walked forward, her body contrasting with the gleaming steel of Colossus clad in his Juggernaut Armor stood behind her.

"Tut tut tut." Emma said shaking her finger at the sprawled Thunderbolts, "Desecrating a tree, what lethal felons you must be."

"You don't understand." Chris yelled, "The tree is evil."

"Enough I'm not here to listen to common criminals excuses." Emma snapped before locking eyes with Diana. "Sage we have to leave now."

"Sage, her name is Diana." Abe replied getting to his feet. Snarling Colossus took a few steps toward him and locked eyes with him.

"I feel like running you down punk." Colossus snarled, "Let's see how much protection that armor provides."

"Enough Pieter we only came for Teresa." Emma ordered. "Sage we are you're kin, you're friends, you know us."

"She's not Sage, she's a bio-organic computer from another dimension." Abe told her, not taking his eyes off of Colossus. "Get that through you're rock solid head sister and either help us destroy the tree or leave us alone."

"I am not you're sister criminal." Emma spat lashing out with her powers and sending Abe collapsing holding his head, "Cerebra identified that girl as Lady Teresa an alias of the former X-Man Sage. Power scans confirm this to be true."

"Her a lady please she was spitting wads of paper at the back of my head a few hours ago." Melissa snorted.

"Her actions mean nothing." Emma snapped, "Pieter grab her and let's go." she ordered as Colossus pushed Abe over and went to grab Diana only to be slapped away from the woman he was attempting to abduct.

"All of you are desecraters of the holy temple." Diana boomed in a voice that was not her own. "As the mouthpiece of the Scorpion Goddess I sentence all of you to oblivion." On her last word thick woody roots sprung from her back and snaked towards the assorted Thunderbolts and X-Men as a foul smile creped across Diana's face.

* * *

**Thunderbolts #13**

It's the Thunderbolts vs. the Extinction Team. Or possibly the Extinction Team vs. The Commeasure and his Forces. Maybe the Commeasure vs. the Thunderbolts? Whatever the case will the Abe and company be able to rescue Diana from the Scorpion Tree before the X-Men do? Find out as the Curse of the Scorpion Tree continues next issue.


	14. Curse of the Scorpion Tree - Part II

The whoops and cries of ancient warriors on the prowl sounded in the valleys and hills as the three hunters ran from their home, bodies stained red by the setting sun and the blood from their fallen comrades. The group consisting of two men and a woman clutching at a bundle seemed tired and their weapons were near broken, looking back they saw torches glowing at the summit of the last hill they hadf crossed and stopped at the base of an ancient oak tree, it's limbs barley supporting a few blackened leaves. Without saying a word both men embraced the woman and doubled back, their spears poised ready for a last stand. Weeping the woman ran over to an oak tree, its bark covered with moss, and sliced open a hole in the trunk. Tears now flowing like rivers down her cheeks she kissed the bundle before hiding it within the tree, sealing the child up in the trunk before turning back to see her pursuers finishing off the last of her companions. Stoically she sat by the tree clutching the knife until the first arrow pierced her heart pining her to the tree, blood rushing from the wound over the trunk and all things concealed within. Looting the bodies the murderers never saw the forth figure dressed in black leather watching the scene from the rocks to the side. Even when they glanced around the scene they never spotted her and by the time they had left they had forgotten about the massacre that had just occurred.

Silently Diana bowed her head in respect for the fallen, instinctively she knew that the bundle in the tree had been a child, hidden from her family's murderers and now entombed for ever inside a bloody trunk. Still forced to watch she spotted a scorpion lugging her babies on her back get stuck in the blood as if it was amber and become entombed alongside the child in the tree. Angrily Diana ran to the tree and tried to rip the child free but her hands ghosted through the trunk and she realized that she was witnessing the entity inside the Scorpion Tree's memories. Looking up she saw a light and reached for it, she knew she was trapped inside the tree just like the long dead infant but unlike the child she could fight for her freedom.

* * *

"Crap." Chris swore as he narrowly dodged a punch from Colossus, the armoured mutant seething at the mouth. "Anybody fancy a trade for an armoured unstoppable killing machine?" he yelled as he slipped over a second blow before delivering a burning punch to his attacker's midriff.

"Sure I'll take him off you're hands." Melissa replied as she scythed through an attacking root with a hard sound axe. "But you will have to deal with the evil tree."

"Deal." Chris answered as Colossus threw a punch that knocked the Thunderbolt across the glade to where Abe was yelling in pain as Emma Frost mentally attacked him. Melissa dived through the flurry of attacking roots before slamming into Colossus's stomach and springing off into a crouched position.

"So you got Juggernaut's powers?" Melissa asked, "Because I've played this game with him before." she added goading Colossus on. With a earth shaking roar he charged straight at Melissa as she stood stone still watching him get closer before diving out the way in the last moment, projecting a hard sound ramp where she had been standing and letting Colossus's momentum do the rest, as he sailed over the edge of the glade before smashing down somewhere outside the vineyard.

"And he's outta there." Chris cheered as he grabbed one of the Scorpion Tree's roots and melted it back to the base of the trunk. "What about Abe?"

"Just cover me." Melissa instructed, "The Lash twins are getting closer and old Juggs will be back soon enough." Chris nodded and watched as Melissa glowed a vivid blue before sending out sonic shockwaves across the glade.

Emma Frost clawed through a little more of Abe's brain cutting through the psychic barriers that he had placed to stop her. The man had a canny well excised mind but against a trained telepath it was nothing more then paper and matchsticks and sooner or later he would relent. She barely gave the memories that she ripped through any time so eager she was to finish the fight before it could get started. Up ahead a barrier formed glowing blue and she reached out and sliced through it, a satisfied smirk on her astral form's face. As the final shards dissipated it was as if a flood gate had been opened, her targets head was filled with noise, hundreds of voices screaming at her and causing her to retreat back to her own mind. Blinking she saw that her target had shifted and that sitting in-front of her was a woman rather then a man.

"I'd advise staying out of our heads." Melissa warned her. "It's a bit noisey and while I am positive that eventually you would drown out the ambient sounds it will take a while and a chunk of you're sanity to do so." Emma snarled before telekinetically flinging the Thunderbolt away before turning back towards Abe as he cut through an attacking root.

"Tell me what you have done to her." Emma growled as Abe turned to face her. "You will pay for torturing her."

"I am not responsible for that." Abe replied, "You saw what I did when we were briefly connected through my old battle armor. I have no more idea who is responsible then you do but I know that I am not."

"It doesn't matter." Emma hissed, "You will still pay, Magik do it now." As the words left her mouth lightning flashed across the sky and four shapes emerged from the vines. Abe recognized Cyclops, Storm and Magneto but the other woman was a mystery although he didn't doubt that she was a powerful mutant just like the others. The situation was quickly going from bad to worse and he still hadn't forgotten about the Commeasure and the Lash Twins, while alone the pair of twisted freaks didn't amount to much when coupled with the X Men and the Scorpion Tree they pushed the needle way into the red zone.

"One last chance." Cyclops bellowed as Melissa and Chris huddled behind him, each one of them nursing bruises from the earlier fight. "Surrender Sage and we will see that you come to no further harm."

"Give us a moment to consult." Melissa replied before watching Cyclops nod in agreement. "Okay guys I'm linking you through a direct sound, you won't be able to reply so just listen. I am not willing to surrender Diana to the X-Gits so we will need to take them out so that we can finish off with the Tree and get out of here before SHIELD figures out who we really are. Colossus will be back in a minute or two, leave him to me, in the meantime I need you to get Storm off the ground. As for the others; Chris I need you to grab Magneto and heat him up, doing that will reduce his ferro-kinetic abilities. As for the others, well Frost won't dare look inside our minds again leaving Cyclops and the extra to deal with, by the time we focus on them we should have a morale advantage."

"Times up." Cyclops yelled over a blast of thunder. "You're decision?"

Melissa pursed her lips listening for Colossus's return hearing each foot-fall as he charged towards them. Another sound caught her ear as well and quickly she summoned her powers tripping everybody in the glade with sonic ties as gunfire erupted all around them. Rolling onto her back she saw Jimenez dressed in a business suit and swapping the ammo clip for the MP7 he held as Backlash and Whiplash threw away the Glocks they had been carrying and reached for their trademark whips.

"I don't know why any of you are here?" he said calmly. "But you are all trespassing on private property so I suggest you leave now."

"They came to kill me my servant." Diana hissed. Melissa had not forgotten about the possessed Thunderbolt but the accented tone of the tree's voice emanating from its captives throat sent shivers down her spine. "All of them, I am so close to my ascension all it will take is a little more blood."

"In that case kill them." Jimenez ordered his henchmen, "Spill their blood on the soil." Melissa winced and looked over at Abe before watching him spin the grenade launcher attachment to his gauntlet. Overhead another clash of thunder sounded joining the chorus of slaps and thwacks that were created as Backlash and Whiplash advanced. "Eyes." Melissa screeched at Chris as Abe fired the grenade he had selected, the projectile bouncing off the bark of the Scorpion Tree and landing between the three apposed parties before detonating showering the area with bright light and loud noise. Before either could fade the Thunderbolts were moving as the X-Men begun to recover, their targets now among them as Chris sprinted towards Magneto, his hands blazing while Melissa threw a hail of sonic daggers at Storm, the weather witch quickly lifting off the ground as the thunder grew more intense.

"You are a fool human." Storm chided Melissa, "You are no match for our power no matter who you are."

"Maybe." Melissa replied smirking as she avoided a blast of energy fired at her by Cyclops. "But since you are a flyer I figure that this might be the absolute nightmare for you." As she spoke a sonic bubble closed around Storm trapping her inside, with a flick of her wrist Melissa sent the bubble and its occupant falling before watching it slam into the ground before burrying it in the earth. With one of her targets down the next one came thundering towards her and she swiftly set up a sonic channel as Cyclops changed his focus to Whiplash as she slashed at him. Ploughing through the vines, stone benches and Magneto and Chris, the pair sent flying as the later attempted to grab the former while he was preoccupied by the follow up rounds that Jimenez was firing, Colossus emerged and ran straight towards the Scorpion Tree, smashing through the trunk reducing the obstacle to kindling.

"No." Diana screamed grabbing her head before collapsing.

"Well that was melodramatic." Abe stated as he swiped at Emma Frost with his sword, the blade snapping off her diamond form as Backlash snaked his whip round the Thunderbolts legs and heaved him backwards. "As for you get off." he spat at the mercenary as he kicked himself free.

"My wife and I often do." Backlash sneered flicking his whip and creating a sonic boom, the blast of energy causing Abe's ears to burn while Emma staggered backwards from the blow. "Time for forty lashes." the thug announced, "Let's see how long it takes you to cry out." he added slashing down at Abe as his target reached up and grabbed the whip.

"Let's see how conductive you're whip is?" Abe replied as he sent a pulse of electricity down the weapon, its owner dropping to the floor and rolling away to safety before he was struck. "Wuss." Abe added as Emma levitated the remains of a bench at him, the stone fragments bouncing off his suit leaving big dents across the surface. Setting up another grenade Abe felt something curl around his neck and lashed out half expecting to come into contact with Whiplash or Backlash but as he continued to levitate upwards he saw Magneto lifting him up, using some snapped wire from the vines to hang him above the remains of the Scorpion Tree.

"Chris, Melissa, Diana anybody help me." Abe spluttered the words barley audible. It was no use Chris was currently playing don't get trampled or shot as he dodged Colossus's charges and shots from Jimenez, the arms dealer having reacquired his machine pistol. Melissa was just as occupied, she was currently shielding herself from Cyclops's optic blasts while fending off numerous strikes from Whiplash and while amazing as she was the cuts on her cheek showed that she was never going to keep it up. Struggling even more Abe watched as Emma stalked over to Diana's collapsed form, telekinetically shoving Backlash away and placed a finger on her neck, checking her pulse before picking her up and dragging her back to the unnamed woman who was staying as far away from the fight as she possibly could.

"Melissa they…have…got…Dia…na." Abe wheezed, his metal noose crushing the life out of him. "Do…something." Melissa turned and fired a sonic dagger up at him slicing through the nose and sending him plummeting. As he fell Abe saw Whiplash slash at Melissa again knocking her down while Colossus slammed Chris into the floor and placed a massive foot on the teen's chest, the sound of popping bone audible even to his ears. Stumbling he headed towards his teammates in an effort to aid them but a blast of energy floored him as Magneto stalled his armor and flung him into the hole created by Storm's descent, the earth flashing before him as he blacked out from the pressure and the G-Force.

* * *

Diana stood on the edge of a canyon looking across at the Pleasant Hills Vineyard and the fighting that had erupted around her body and the Scorpion Tree. From the looks of it the Thunderbolts were losing with Abe already fallen somewhere below the surface. Cursing herself for whatever reason the tree had chosen her to be it's mouthpiece she looked up and down before spotting a building spanning the gorge suspended by a column of binary figures swirling up and down. Diana cocked her head, normally she would investigate such an anomaly before proceeding but this time there was no time. Sprinting over the rocks and craggy outcrops she reached the 'bridge' and pulled on the only available door which opened with a flash of light before fading to reveal a dark and dingy alley. Diana stepped forward and felt her body move on its own, she had become a spectator in her own body but who or what was in control remained a mystery.

Stepping up to a grotty door, its paintwork dented with bullet holes and scorched black, Diana's body shifted the back-pack it had somehow magically acquired and knocked on the door, the word FEAST scratched in the grime. Seconds later a latch clicked and a pair of eyes stared out of a peep hole before disappearing as the latch was closed and the door opened. "Teresa," the bulky man standing in the doorway grunted. "Come in quick before anybody sees you." Inside 'Teresa's' head Diana gasped, she recognized the man from SHIELD files and mug shots. The guard was Herman Schultz AKA the Shocker; just a few weeks ago Diana had fought him and the rest of the Sinister Syndicate, she knew that he was a bad guy so maybe she was in the head of a criminal.

(As seen in Something Sinister - Part I, II and IV)

"I brought some food." Teresa told Shocker, "I hope Mr Li can find some use for It." she added. Diana analyzed the voice and accent, it sounded familiar and as she scanned the hall she found herself in a sense of déjà vu as something stirred in her memory. Maybe she had been to a place like this back home, while her memories started from her torture and transformation into a cyborg she must have been somebody before then.

"Teresa." a woman called, "What are you doing here? You know the government doesn't approve of people like you coming to places like this." Diana surveyed the room, besides Schultz there was a family waiting for food at a table, a young couple sharing a meal, some costumed mercs talking in low whispers, a doctor examining a young woman with burns on her arms while a man in a weathered suit told jokes distracting the patient from the pain she was feeling.

"How am I any different to them?" Teresa asked, "I may be a mutant but I am also a human being. Besides the government gives mutants more food then sapiens and I don't need to eat so much."

"You don't know the kind of hell your actions are going to bring here." the woman snapped, "Mr Hudak finally got a job last week, Mimi and Agner there have enough cash for a demo disc, Schultz is about to graduate from night school, Mary is beginning to trust us and Grif actually got a laugh yesterday evening. We are beginning to turn lives around and you coming here could ruin it." Just as she finished there was a knock on the door and Schultz opened the notch before slamming it shot.

"Inspection, everybody have your papers ready so we can avoid trouble." he told the room as he opened the door and a group of armoured figures walked in.

"You girl." a short particularly hairy man at the head of the inspection team snapped at the woman Teresa was talking too. "Get Li and any one in the kitchens out here now."

"Hey man chill out." the suited man, Grif to his friends, told the leader of the guards. "Hey buddy." he said looking up at the tallest of the figures, his skin gleaming like armor. "You want to hear a joke?"

"Da." the larger man replied grapping Grif by the head and twisting it until it snapped and the smaller man fell to the floor. All the patrons of the centre gasped and seconds later the doctor bent down and shook his head while the larger man flexed his muscles. "Anybody else want to piss us off today?"

"You fucked up Ruskie basted." a voice cried and Teresa/Diana turned to see one of the mercenaries had risen to his feet, his hand clutching a large chain gun that had been hidden under the table. "I fought in Nam so fucks like you didn't ruin my country but because of the old house they invited you anyway. Well me and my friends here won't take you're abuse anymore."

"Frank sit down." Schultz ordered, "Please don't turn this into a firefight." It was too late Frank had already spun up his chain gun and the rest of the mercs were silently locking onto targets as well. Siding over to the Hudaks Teresa motioned for them to slip down under the bench as seconds later bullets started flying. His skin rippling like steel the Russian inspector charged through the hail of projectiles and grabbed the shooter ripping the chain gun and his hands off his body as the other mercs scattered. A second man dressed in black with dark glasses on twirled a spade and slashed towards a female inspector as she dodged under his blow and slashed through his neck with a bone knife. Over in the corner a scantily clad woman smacked into a third guard before convulsing as their contact reversed her powers and wrapped her in a shroud of darkness. The last mercenary kept firing his pistols, the skull like mask over his face hiding his emotions until he too was struck down by the guard's leader as he stuck metallic claws into the man's neck causing him to bleed out onto the floor.

"Casualty report now." the clawed man snarled as his blue skinned second in command walked over clutching a data pad.

"The dead are all human; Frank Simpson AKA Nuke, Timothy Malloy AKA the Sexton, Tanya Sealy AKA Black Mamba and Tony Masters AKA the Taskmaster. All of them are wanted by SHIELD for numerous offences. We also have two civilian casualties Griffin Gogol whose death started the shooting and David Angar who was killed by a stray round"

"You killed him." the woman who had been sitting next to Angar screeched, "You are responsible for his death but we all know what you do to humans who are casualties." Diana suddenly recognized the voice, the woman Mimi was Melissa, somehow she was both here and if the flashes of sonic energy were anything to go by also outside on the other side of the canyon.

"Toad shut her up." the short clawed man ordered as a green skin man hopped over to the morning blonde. With a quick flick of his tongue the guard had silenced Melissa leaving her wheezing on the floor due to her punctured larynx.

"We have a mutant." one of the agents purred, "Teresa Lipitza." she added pulling Teresa out from behind the overturned table.

"You are monsters." Teresa snapped as she was pulled in front of the guards. "You are being cruel just for the sake of it these people are struggling because of the recent coup."

"You think we are cruel?" the short commander snarled, "Why not tell Lord Magnus that." he added, "Of cause we need to set a reminder that mutants are superior to humans. Colossus kill them all." The Russian grinned before picking up the dropped Chaingun and scything the room, bullets ripping apart the remaining patrons of the aid centre. "And now for a second example." the man growled extending his claws into Teresa's jaws and pulling to the left breaking her lower jaw. "Take her, burn the rest." he ordered as he kicked Teresa out of the door and into the street. As Teresa fell Diana felt the impact and looked up, she was no longer in the canyon or the rundown back alleys she had made it back to the vineyard. Looking up she saw her teammates pinned as the mutants psychically locked Jimenez and the Lash twins against the vines.

"No you idiots you did what she wanted you to do." Diana screamed, "You have to release them now before it is too late."

"What do you mean Teresa?" Cyclops asked. Diana was about to reply when the ground shook and light erupted from the earth as crawling out of the ground came a massive creature, its bald humanoid head covered with a raven feather headdress while its scaly slender body and scorpion tail crawled with translucent growths and warts. Its pincer like hands held two orbs that glowed and pulsated revealing sickle like claws on the three pairs of legs that were arranged down the monsters body. Black smoke that emitted in jets everytime the creature breathed finished the frightening picture, one that had been scrawled across the bark of the old tree as a warning so very long ago. The Scorpion Goddess had emerged and judging from the screams she was creating not only was she insane she was angry as well.

* * *

**Thunderbolts #14**

The Scorpion Goddess is loose and is looking for a new kingdom to rule with an iron fist. Will the Thunderbolts and X Men be able to put their differences aside to stop her plans of conquest? And what happened to Abe and Storm? Find out in the next Issue of the New Thunderbolts.


	15. Curse of the Scorpion Tree - Part III

Abe stared up at the ceiling of the chamber he found himself in, massive stalactites dripping a black fluid down onto the floor of the cave. Getting to his feet he activated all his armours luminescent panels and stared into the darkness that surrounded him, half imagined shapes moving in the darkness fleeing from the light he was shining. Walking along Abe stopped and scanned the walls taking note of the monstrous creatures etched onto the bare rock as well as avoiding the areas where the black water from the roof of the cave had pooled together to form dark flowing streams of foul smelling fluid. Apart from the occasional drip the cave was silent but as Abe walked on he could swear he heard voices, smell spices being scattered over food, even see people moving ahead of him. Toggling his grenade launcher Abe found a recon orb, a small camera covered ball that documented areas and relayed them back to his HUD, and fired the projectile rolling away before coming to a stop against a flat rock. Watching the images Abe saw the remains of an old fire as well as buildings jutting out of the rock, the Populus of the sunken town staring with dead eyes out into the centre of the chamber.

"This is amazing." Abe whispered, his voice amplified as his words echoed around the necropolis. As his words faded a new sound echoed back, the sound of a woman crying and unlike the other noises the recon orb was picking it up too. In other words there was somebody else alive down here. Slowly moving through the town Abe swivelled his head looking for signs of the living, even toggling his vision to an infa-red mode to pick up his 'companion' more easily. Eventually he found her, locked in a tiny hut connected to the ceiling with no visible opening, running his hand across the rock Abe could almost feel the desperation of the prisoner trapped inside.

"Hello is anybody there." Abe called.

"Thank god can you get me out of here." a female voice answered, "The siren used her abilities to phase me down here and I'm trapped and can't get out."

"Storm?" Abe asked. "Hang on I need to find something to cut the rock away."

"Use you're powers." Storm answered, "Hurry I can't breathe."

"I don't have any powers." Abe answered, "Just an unfinished suit of prototype armor."

"You are one of the people who were holding Sage hostage." Storm stated. "I'd rather suffocate in here then let somebody like you help me."

"I didn't kidnap her." Abe answered, "She is a friend that's all. Listen my name is…" he paused, "MACH V, you may have heard of me. I have a plan to get you out, just get to the back of the room and close you're eyes." Abe ordered as he removed all the grenades from his launcher and placed them at the base of the wall as his armor scanned for the weakest point of the structure. "Are you ready?"

"I can't breath it's too narrow." Storm gulped.

"It isn't, close you're eyes and imagine you are sailing over the ocean, there's nothing around you but the water and the blue sky with nothing on the horizon." Abe told her as he fingered the detonator. Silently he counted to five and pressed the button for the manual detonation of the bombs, the explosion ripping a hole in the stone to reveal the trapped X-Man sitting with her eyes closed in the corner. "And poof you're free." Abe stated, his voice causing Storm to open her eyes, blinking at the sudden increase of light. "Anybody who wants to get out of here should leave now." he added as he stepped away from the hole and let her fly out. "I am so going to regret this I know It." he moaned as he followed her down into the main camp.

* * *

Melissa soared around the Scorpion Goddess raining a hail of sonic daggers into the monster's hide although the creature didn't seem to care much about her attacks and was more concerned in hunkering down and letting the golden light from the orbs it carried bathe her body in their power. Down on the ground Chris and Diana were attempting to melt away a section of the ground in the hope that destabilizing the creature might do some damage. The X Men were huddled away from the Goddess simply staring up at it in awe, something that made Melissa's blood boil, they either didn't care or didn't understand the danger the creature represented or as she guessed a mixture of both. A shot rang out and a glowing blue spear whizzed past her and Melissa dived soaring past the creature's face to see Jimenez clutching a three barrelled Ion Atlatl Launcher as he tracked her getting ready to fire again. Diving to the deck Melissa touched down next to the X-Men using the Scorpion Goddess as a living barrier between her and the shooter.

"Mind sharing what you're discussing." Melissa stated, "Because no offence but whatever it is it's not as important as the massive Scorpion Goddess and whatever she is doing."

"Actually you obtuse thug." Emma snapped, "We were discussing how we are going to take down the creature when you interrupted."

"Then by all means take it out." Melissa announced stepping aside. "Chris, Diana back off the X-Men say they can handle it." Chris and Diana exchanged glances before staring at Melissa in disbelief.

"You can't be serious." Diana hissed.

"Not even close." Melissa replied, "Stay on it while I take Jimenez's toy away." she ordered before taking to the air and darting over the Scorpion Goddess before slamming feet first into the Commeasure knocking him to the floor. Removing the power core and ammo back from the rifle Melissa turned to see Backlash and Whiplash crack their whips and advance on her. "Call off you're BSDM cronies." Melissa ordered pressing her foot on Jimenez's windpipe a little harder.

"Drop you're weapons." Jimenez croaked. Sharing a worried look the Lash Twins dropped their whips and pistols before backing off. "My love," he yelled up to the Scorpion Goddess, "I bring you offerings but I need you're power to aid Me." he yelled up at the Goddess. Melissa turned and saw the creature shift to face Jimenez and light up its tail with the same golden energy emanating from the orbs before plunging the stinger down towards her. Leaping off the Commeasure Melissa watched as the barb pierced Jimenez's heart, wisps of golden energy bubbling from the wound before sealing up the entry hole completely.

"Now rise my most loyal priest." the Scorpion Goddess commanded. In an instant Jimenez's body expanded, armoured legs splitting his suit as his skin hardened whilst his hands transformed into scorpion like pincers and finally a long barbed stinger erupted from his spine. While his head remained human the rest of the Commeasure's body had transformed into that of a giant scorpion clad in golden armor. Taking a step back Melissa realized that Backlash and Whiplash were reaching for their weapons, worried looks spread across their faces.

"Boss?" Backlash asked, "You're orders?"

"I have no further use for the two of you." Jimenez screeched, "But you both will make beautiful sacrifices."

"This is where you either help us or run for the hills." Melissa told them. Seconds later both of the villains had turned tail leaving Melissa alone with the abomination that the Scorpion Goddess had created. "No honour among thieves I guess." Wreathing her hand in sonic armor Melissa smacked Jimenez in the face only to see the protection shatter on the hybrids thick magical armor. Even worse there now appeared to be a tattoo of a scorpion on her hand and a strange itching that grew worse every time that she dodged the newly transformed Jimenez's blows until her skin split open and a black armoured scorpion emerged before quickly being flung off by quick sonic pulse. Landing on the ground the scorpion swelled to the size of a large dog and swung its new claws and stingers causing her to leap out of the way only to brush up against Jimenez, a whole new wave of itching spreading across her back. Screaming in pain Melissa staggered away as Chris and Diana rushed forward only to be blocked as the Scorpion Goddess fired a pulse of energy from one of her orbs and burning a golden trench between them and Melissa. Watching in disgust the Thunderbolts saw the first of the scorpions emerge followed by more ripping through Melissa's costume all of them scurrying down her and swelling as they hit the ground before surrounding the fallen Thunderbolt and slashing at her with their claws.

Diana turned to glare at the X-Men before leaping through the fire, her skin burning as she transformed her arm into an electrified pellet gun opening fire on the scorpions and causing many to pop open spraying green blood over to the floor. Reaching Melissa she saw Jimenez scuttle towards her and slam his stinger through her shoulder shredding her arm before smacking her in the face, his blow leaving a large scorpion tattoo on her cheek.

"My mistress, the first two sacrifices for you." he hissed as he opened his claws and held Diana and Melissa up by the neck so that the Goddess could clearly see them. With a scream of rage Chris followed Diana's lead and landed hands first on Jimenez's back, the armor bubbling and causing the Scorpion Man to buck and thrash throwing his team mates to the floor before knocking the Melter to the floor, burning handprints scorched into his carapace. Howling with rage he scuttled towards Chris only to be punched in the face by the young mutant, his flesh bubbling and causing the wretched creature to back off. Behind him Chris heard Diana scream and saw a scorpion wiggle out of her head before striking with it's stinger into her eye before being removed by Melissa and crushed in her hand.

"So much for wine tasting." Melissa sighed, "Thank god we didn't take the brewery tour."

"You're hands." Diana told Chris, "They didn't get marked by the Scorpion Tattoo. Something about you is immune to the fiend's abilities; you could touch him and avoid infection."

"Cool but that only accounts for the little ones, the big momma is still outside my weight class." Chris announced as Jimenez came running at them again followed by the remaining scorpion brood. Behind the Thunderbolts came a bellow and they turned to see Colossus on an intercept course with the freak before slamming into him and knocking him flying.

"It's about time." Diana commented, "Listen we need to find a way to defeat the creature before it finishes charging up, once it had sucked those orbs dry it will be a lot harder to kill.

"It's already very powerful." Magik announced helping Diana to her feet, "It is getting ready to unleash its destructive power, once it is ready it will send out a shockwave that will destroy anything in a fifteen mile radius."

"Fifteen miles shit." Chris commented, "And we stop it how?"

"I suggest that you hit it." Magneto sighed stretching out with his powers and balling the wire into a massive ball and throwing it at the Scorpion Goddess, the metal projectile slamming into one of the orbs and melting into a rain of molten slurry.

"Brute Force won't cut it." Emma announced, "I had a look inside its mind and the boasts it made about being invincible, while false come from the knowledge that most physical attacks will be repelled by her armor.

"Then we play it smart." Melissa replied, "Abe and I met a woman called Rosa, Jimenez's wife before he became an eight legged freak, she knew about the Scorpion Tree, told us about it but I think maybe she knew more then she was letting on. If I am right then she might have an answer."

"Then we have a plan, the majority of us will stay and keep the creature from charging up. Illyana take Teresa's friend up to the manor and find out what Rosa knows. Magneto go get some ammo, there is a motel nearby so there should be plenty of metal for you to use. Emma get us some reinforcements, I don't care who turns up just get me somebody." Cyclops ordered, "If what we know is true then we don't have much time."

* * *

Abe walked through the Necropolis as Storm trudged behind looking anxiously at the cave walls. Her claustrophobia was pretty bad, Abe thought, to him the area was narrow but not overbearingly so. Picking up the recon orb he threw it down a chamber and watched on his HUD as it came to a stop on the edge of a subterranean lake.

"Storm I have good news." Abe deadpanned, "We have a lake up ahead which hopefully will lead to an underground river that we can used to escape this place." Something hit him on the back of the head and Abe looked down to see the recon orb lying at his feet. Picking it up he looked down to the lake to see a Native American woman sitting by the shore watching him with granite grey eyes. Picking up the orb he threw it again and watched it land on his HUD, the video not picking up the new contact before seemingly levitating into the air as the woman picked it up and threw it back. "Storm do you see anything down there?" Abe asked as he pointed at the lake.

"There is a woman down there." Storm replied as she squinted in the darkness. "I sense strong magic emanating from that woman. Whether she is benevolent or not is beyond my powers to comprehend however."

"Any port in the well you." Abe replied as he picked up the recon orb and walked towards the woman. "Howdy." he stated, "So who are you?"

"That is no way to address somebody like this." Storm reprimanded him. "We humbly beseech you to aid us." she told the woman. The native just blinked before pointing to the Recon Orb that Abe held. Smiling Abe gave it to her and she threw it up in the air before catching it.

"You speak in an unusual tongue." she eventually announced. "It took my magic a while to translate it. I assume you have come because of my daughter just like those before you."

"You're daughter?" Storm asked, "Tell me about her."

"I don't have to, you're husband knows about what I speak."

"Hold you're horses." Abe yelled throwing his hands up, "We are not married, not even betrothed."

"Then you are at least friends." the woman announced.

"More like acquaintances." Abe told her, "Actually that is a lie we just met."

"Yet you both seek to stop my daughter from completing her conquest as the Chumash and Conquistadors before you did? They sent a husband and a wife, one from each tribe to beseech me how to contain my child back in the Scorpion Tree"

"How long have you been here?" Storm asked, "If you met such people who are long since extinct or have long since abandoned this land."

"I have been here since my death; my people came here after our race was destroyed. I was the last to fall shortly after I hid my daughter in the bowels of an oak tree. After my death I awaited her here but she never came, her isolation twisting her into a hideous abomination. When she arose last time she declared revenge on all the descendants of those who had murdered my tribe and claimed this land as her own by rite of heritage and conquest."

"So how did they beat here?" Abe asked.

"They bound her back into the tree and scratched a warning on the bark so all knew what had been imprisoned inside." the woman answered. "Through a combination of herbs, glyphs and chanting the portal was sealed permanently or at least it should have been."

"It still is." Abe told her, "But an idiot copied the symbol and put it on another tree. Before I left the plant itself was fighting us off when we were trying to destroy it."

"You were fools to do so, only dark magic could breach the prison and only the most devout sorcerer would try to do so." the woman answered. "But alas one has freed my child albeit by accident when he destroyed the tree. But I have given you the answers you seek; now fly before my child finally makes her dreams come true." As she spoke the last words her form erupted into mist filling the cave before being dissipated by Storm revealing a hole above them leading to the surface, starlight twinkling high above them guiding them back to the land of the living.

* * *

Cyclops opened fire, the beam of energy hitting the Scorpion Goddess blackening her armor as she scuttled around, her feet causing tremors strong enough to knock her prey onto the ground. Off to the right Teresa, or as the Thunderbolts were calling her Diana, fired a wide range of ordinance; ranging from micro rockets, electrified pellets and blasts of energy up at the creature but all seemed to bounce off the god's carapace. Looking towards the Manor house Scott saw Emma engaged in combat with the mutated land owner, his claws leaving black scorpion tattoos on her diamond skin causing monstrous crystal skinned arachnids to emerge from her body leaving patches of human flesh behind where they had spawned. He had a feeling that the battle was going to be over very soon and while he usually didn't doubt that his Extinction Team wouldn't fail there was something more unsettling about the foe they faced. At least Colossus seemed to be having a good time if nothing else, his punches and kicks at the Scorpion Goddess's legs the only thing that caused the monstrous creature to flinch.

Chris opened fire with a rapid volley of punches and blows on the first of the diamond clad scorpions as Emma retreated throwing telekinetic blasts at Jimenez to slow his charge. With a burning punch he eventually destroyed the first but it had taken a lot out of him, the whole fight was draining him, more so then the bout with the Scarecrow, silently he wondered how long it was until the Goddess unleashed her destructive powers. Looking down he saw a Scorpion scurry up to his leg, diamond tipped stinger ready to strike. Quickly he kicked it away and saw an armoured hand sticking out of the ground, one that he recognized as Abe's reaching down he hauled his armoured team mate and the X Man that Melissa had buried out of the earth.

"Damm it boss, you had to convince us to go after that fucking tree." Chris yelled, "If it wasn't for us meddling kids that would have stayed buried." he added jabbing a finger at the towering Scorpion Goddess.

"It's bigger then I thought it would be." Abe stated, "Storm we need to find the tree so that we can imprison that monstrosity back inside."

"That might be a problem." Chris replied sulkily, "Colossus knocked it down." he added before being thrown out the way by Jimenez who thrust one of his claws down at Abe. Panicking Abe blocked the blow and activated the Taser function in his gauntlet sending electricity along the hybrid's arm and causing it to back off its hand aflame.

"Check you're palm." Chris warned, "Any marks?"

"None." Abe replied as Storm threw lightning bolts at the monster causing it to flee up towards the manor house.

"Huh heat or energy must destroy the incubating hatchlings." Chris commented. "Speaking of which watch you're feet." he warned as a dozen diamond shelled scorpions scurried towards them. Before the crystalline arachnids could reach them however a wave of cars slammed down all around the clearing, the majority exploding on the Scorpion Goddess hide but those that made it past her ignited her brood causing them to detonate into puddles of green puss. Abe groaned one of the thrown vehicles had been the Thunderbolt's Mercedes, his insurance policy was sure to go through the roof thanks to Magneto. Looking around he saw the majority of the X-Men and Thunderbolts regrouping, focusing their attacks on the Scorpion Goddess's head attempting to crack the creature's thick armor. One figure was conspicuous by her absence, grapping Chris, Abe stared into his eyes and asked the question he always hated the answerer to. "Where's Melissa?"

Melissa reappeared ashen face at what she had seen in the brief trip through Limbo with Magik. While she had been on several less then stellar trips the one she had just taken was defiantly on the list of things she would never do again. The manor house was deserted, the staff and guard if there had been any to begin with were absent and the place seemed too quiet. Amplifying the sound Melissa heard the sound of panicking and feet running for their life on the second floor. Soaring up and into the house she joined the pursuit until the sounds of running were replaced by that of pleading and begging. Nodding to Magik she ran her hand over the door and flooded the structure with sonic energy causing the room to explode with bright blue light which quickly dissipated to reveal Rosa thrashing as she was suspended from the roof beams. Standing on the other end of the 'hangman's rope' was Backlash while his partner in crime kept a pistol levelled at Ms. Jimenez's head.

"Backlash and company." Melissa snarled, "I though you were running for you're lives?"

"We were." Whiplash answered, "But then we figured we may as well walk away from this job with something. Weapons, money, artefacts maybe a few bottles of the 09 for our summer home in Catalan."

"So it's a simple case of greed." Melissa spat, "You both disgust me." she added illuminating her hands with sonic energy.

"Enough with the powers." Backlash snarled, "Do anything like that again and the hostage dies do you understand me."

"I understand you, oh so well." Melissa replied.

"Screw the bitch isn't going to give up the account codes." Whiplash hissed, "Sorry honey but that only gets a bullet in the brain." she warned squeezing the trigger. Melissa screamed and the whole room was tinted pink as shots rang out and the sounds of a body hitting the floor sounded before being silenced by the all consuming sound of power.

* * *

**New Thunderbolts #15**

What will the Thunderbolts and X-Men have to do to stop the Scorpion Goddess? And more importantly what will they loose in the process? Find out in the arc finale as the Curse of the Scorpion Tree is about to be truly unleashed.


	16. Curse of the Scorpion Tree - Part IV

Magik blinked as the pink light faded revealing the scene of carnage caused by her allies scream. The hostage Rosa was lying on the floor, the whip used to suspend her snapped and its wielder lying face down on the floor, his body convulsing from the shock of the attack. Compared to Whiplash, Backlash had got off reasonably well; his wife was bleeding from her ears and nose as she reached for her whip. With a swift kick Illyana stopped any further attempt to counter-attack. Looking over at 'Skylark' Illyana saw her panting; her damaged costume completely vaporized leaving her standing naked in the middle of the room, her skin glowing a hot pink.

"Mrs Jimenez are you alright?" Melissa asked the former hostage.

"As well as I should be after being held hostage." Rosa answered smiling graciously, "I thank both of you for rescuing me. Be assured my husband will hear of their treachery."

"I wouldn't bother he has become a servant of the Scorpion Goddess, he would sooner sacrifice you then anything else." Illyana told her as Melissa walked over to Whiplash and stripped her before using the villains whip to tie up both of the villains. Slipping the leather on Melissa had to marvel on how high tech the cowl was, despite being kinky it featured a recoil compensator and automatic tracking module, after she was done with it she would give it to Abe and let him tinker with it. In the meantime being dressed in revealing leather was better then fighting the Scorpion Goddess butt naked. "We need to talk." she announced staring at Rosa. "And we need to know everything."

Abe watched as the others hammered the Scorpion Goddess, the massive creature barley flinching at their attacks. He would have joined them but his own armor was outclassed so heavily that he may as well simply swat flies off the monster's skin. Slicing through the last of the scorpion offspring with his cut down blade he looked up towards the manor house and saw sonic flares being released, Melissa's way of getting his attention. Eventually the hard sound blasts formed into letters that spelt out a terrible warning. "Energy Release Imminent get up here now." Abe cursed out loud before waving to Emma Frost and pointing to the lettering, seconds later everyone was looking as a telepathic message was relayed to all the Thunderbolts and X-Men.

Melissa watched as Illyana shuddered, the mutant's body counting down until the Scorpion Queen drained enough energy to decimate the area. Rosa had been reasonably helpful, telling them how her husband had made a game out of drawing the warning symbol in the days before his devotion spiralled out of control, as well as recounting the stories she had heard over the years as she researched the creature, it was clear she had known that this would happen and had been preparing for the release of the Goddess every since the oak had been planted and the monster's prison expanded.

Closing her eyes Melissa listened marvelling at how quiet the house was; the only sounds save for heart-beats and the distant noise of battle was a clicking scuttling sound. Opening her eyes Melissa grabbed Rosa's hand and pulled her towards the basement before beckoning for Illyana to follow them, the master of the house George Jimenez was returning for whatever reason. Closing the door softly behind them Melissa looked around the room they found themselves in and gasped, every piece of space was covered in weapons; both normal firearms and upgraded technology from organizations such as AIM and Hydra, it was clear that Jimenez had his fingers in plenty of illegal pies. The scuttling sounded again and Melissa looked up along with the others and saw the Scorpion hybrid, his armor blackened, crawling across the ceiling his tail snaking towards Rosa.

"You shouldn't be down here Rosa." Jimenez hissed swinging his tail into her back, "Normally I would have Backlash punish you but now I can do it myself." he cackled over his wife's screams. Solidifying a hard sound knife Melissa dived into the fray and slashed through the tail, blood spurting over her before grabbing the tail and wrenching it out of its victim, twin scorpion tattoos already forming on her hand. Dropping to the floor Jimenez screeched and came charging towards her only to disappear in a flash of blue light as Magik stepped forward and put her hand over Rosa's wound.

"Where did you send him?" Melissa asked as Rosa begun to cough up blood.

"Later this woman has been envenomated with a magical toxin, one for which I have no antidote." Illyana replied, "Luckily her senses are overloading so she can't here us, all we can do is end her life quickly."

"I'm not a killer." Melissa snarled, "She must be able to survive, no toxin kills 100% of the time."

"This toxin has already done all the damage it needs to, it has polarized her bodily system, her heart and lungs are dying but her brain is working faster then it should, taking note of everything, if she could scream she would be. This woman is not evil; she doesn't deserve to die in this way." Melissa bowed her head and removed one of the pistols from the wall and lined up a shot before closing her eyes and pulling the trigger. Opening her eyes she saw Rosa's body explode with light from the bullet wound before completely evaporating into photon's, looking down at the weapon that she was holding Melissa saw that it's casing was AIM yellow, a clear sign of who it's original manufacturer was.

"She will not be the last of us killed this day; one more will be sacrificed to stop the Scorpion Goddess." Illyana told Melissa, "For now we must worry about the Hybrid's return, I tried to send him to limbo but his magics are too strong and all I could do was send him outside."

"Good," Melissa spat dropping the pistol and opening a large crate and removing the contents, "If what Chris demonstrated is true this should be enough to destroy him."

Abe reached the mansion as the Thunderbolts and X-Men fell back in pairs. He and Storm had been the first to be sent back to prepare the binding spell in the hopes that a new prison would be found. Magneto and Colossus would be next with the old villain required to physically drag the metallic skinned mutant away from the fight. After them were Chris and Emma with Diana and Cyclops bringing up the rear. Looking at the house Abe could sense something was wrong, it was too quiet and a weird smell filled the air.

"Storm go inside and see what you can scrounge up. We need Peyote, Sage, Sequoia Chips and Rattlesnake scales to complete the position. If what you have told me Magik should be able to handle the chanting while we finish off the glyphs required to trap that big mother fucker." Abe told the Weather Witch, "I'll stay here and wait for the others."

"Agreed." Storm answered before she swooped into the house. Abe turned back to look at the raging battle, blasts of energy lighting up the sky. "Marvelling at her beauty?" a voice hissed behind Abe before something cold and vice like closed on his neck. "I can't blame you." it added as titanium armoured scorpions sprouted from his Iridium Armor.

Melissa crouched at the end of the basement, a clear line of sight to the door cleared so that she could get a good shot. Taking deep and even breathes she heard Jimenez close in before panting as he squeezed through a gap at the rear of the room. Dropping down he stepped into the light holding the limp armoured figure in his claws.

"You will be a brilliant sacrifice." Jimenez hissed to Abe, "You have committed evil acts and that means she will have a richer meal when she consumes your soul.

"I've changed." Abe moaned, "I served my time and now I work to bring freaks like you to justice."

"In only a few minutes my mistress will redefine all the laws to just one, the law where the strong rule the weak." Jimenez told him before coming face to face with Magik as she grabbed Abe and teleported away leaving the abomination blinking at its apparently disappearing prey.

"You want to talk about law." Melissa announced causing Jimenez to spin round to glare at where she was crouched. "I just killed you're wife, probably interrupted you're mistress snacking. It's probably a good thing because I know she wouldn't have wanted to see the devastation you are so hell-bound on creating."

"What is hell for you will be paradise for me."

"Still that LAW you mentioned." Melissa stated shouldering the rocket launcher she had found, "You have to abide by it as well." she added as she fired the weapon as her enemy charged foolishly towards her. Jimenez collided with the rocket and kept on coming for a few seconds before the whole room detonated the stored weapons and power cells exploding and ripping the mansion above into pieces. Up above the mansion Storm looked down before showering the whole area with rain, the smoke and fire quickly extinguished to reveal a glimmering dome of energy protecting the shooter. Crawling out of the remains of the house Melissa turned back to see the smoking pile of ash which had been Jimenez. "I had plenty of quips about Hell as well." she yelled at the former minion as Abe raced up and pulled her out of the rubble.

"Please tell me that isn't a hint at something." he moaned before leading her over to the others.

"Just borrowing." she added sweetly, "Oh fuck Whiplash and Backlash were tied up in the house."

"Don't worry." Cyclops answered gesturing to the still tied up villains leaning up against an uprooted Yew Tree. "Magik plucked them out of the house moments before you decide to blow the place."

"We seem to have all the ingredients too." Emma added, "The woman Rosa was planning this, she even had a Yew Tree planted with a nearly completed drawing of the creature as well as runic slabs with the correct pictographs."

"So we complete the ritual and sayonara Scorpion Goddess right?" Chris asked.

"Should be the case. We need a few minutes to get the potion brewed and the all we need to do is splash her with the stuff and chant." Storm answered. Chris smiled before looking over at Diana who sat alone staring out at the Scorpion Goddess, the ripples of energy reflected in her eyes. Walking over he hopped up onto the wall and put her arm round her, noticing how hot her skin was.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"It's going to come too late." Diana replied, "The potion will not be ready in time and the chant requires a good three minutes to kick in, plus the vessel that will contain the Goddess has to make contact."

"So we start chanting and drop the tree on the thing and presto it's over." Chris stated.

"That won't work either." Diana replied turning to stare into his eyes. "I know what I need to do." she added kissing him passionately on the lips as a symbol of the Scorpion Goddess formed on her chest, "Don't try and stop me." she added stunning him before walking over to where Abe and Emma were getting ready to mix the ingredients. Emma looked up just as she arrived and shook her head before getting to her feet, her skin turning to diamond ready for combat.

"What the hell?" Abe swore as he moved out the way, "Diana what's going on?"

"You taught me about redemption when we first met." Diana stated as Melissa and the other ran towards them. "I never forgot that and I will never forget it. But now I know what has to be done to stop the monster from coming in and taking everything on this planet."

"Yes it's the ritual." Abe stated.

"Not the Scorpion Goddess I'm talking about me." Diana told him, "I know why I came here and more importantly what I was before he changed me. And he will use me to come to this world and take it as his own, something that I can't let him do. Please forgive me Abe for everything." With a flash of her panels Diana let loose a blinding light before grabbing the ingredients and leaping into the vineyard running along the track towards the now still Scorpion Goddess.

"You want me to run her down?" Colossus asked Emma as the remaining X-Men and Thunderbolts stood stunned at Revenant's actions.

"No." Emma answered, "She wasn't what we came for, we came to stop that thing and Teresa or Diana whatever she calls herself is our only shot now."

Chris blinked as he regained consciousness, spots still flashing before his eyes. Looking around he saw Abe and Cyclops placing the runic tablets on the floor as Magik begun to chant the incantation that was then amplified by Melissa, the whole area booming with the ancient words of binding and containment. Looking out to the field he saw Diana running towards the Scorpion Goddess keeping to the well worn paths. Something else was moving in the thickets of vines as well, something that smashed through plants heading for an intercept course, Chris narrowed his eyes before seeing the form of Jimenez cross one of the irrigation ditches, his armor glowing red as spittle dangled from his mouth. As fast as Diana was moving, Jimenez would reach her before she could reach the goddess, energy running across her body and bathing the whole area in a golden glow.

"He'll get there first." Chris gasped, "Hey metal head." he yelled as Colossus stalked past, anxiously paceing as he waited for something to happen. "Look over there." he added pointing at Jimenez. Colossus snarled and picked him up by the scruff of the next before cursing in Russian and throwing Chris into the field on a direct path to Jimenez, the young mutant crashing into the scorpion hybrid and melting away a chunk of the creature's arms and causing him to wheel around and kick him away.

"Foolish mortal." Jimenez snarled, "While my mistress is alive my soul is tethered to her side. As long as she lives I am an immortal." Snarling the creature slashed at the obstruction with a bladed claw only to have it blocked and for the appendege to melt, armor and skin bubbling away until nothing was left of the arm. Howling in rage Jimenez backed up and kicked sand at Chris, the dust superheated as it approached him and transforming into glass daggers that cut the Thunderbolts skin. Wincing through the pain Chris left forward and grabbed hold of one of Jimenez's legs until it burnt away to nothing causing the abomination to stagger and slam belly first into Chris's chest, his whole body leaking onto the Thunderbolt as tiny scorpions wiggled from his attacker's flesh and stung at his face and legs. Despite the repeated assaults Chris held on long enough until Jimenez pulled away, his entire body aflame as he ran towards Diana before burning out in the middle of the field, the vines burning where he fell.

Diana secreted the finished potion over her skin and clothes as she reached the Scorpion Goddess, far behind her the chant was already well underway and the rune stones that would bind the fell creature were glowing a cool blue, ready to aid in the binding. Reaching out to touch the creature on the flank, Diana hesitated looking up at the creature as it shuddered, bursts of energy already incinerating the ground around her and melting the biological plastic off her skin and hands. Stroking the creature on the flank Diana closed her eyes before tumbling backwards onto the floor as the Scorpion Goddess erupted into golden light and ascended into the sky as a gleaming cloud only to be sucked away into her body. Struggling to her feet Diana screamed, she was the creature's prison but it was far from happy to be sentenced. Almost immediately golden energy wrapped around her form creating a magical flesh as the contained god fought at the bindings. As every second past more and more power surged to the forefront and Diana knew that she was losing the battle to contain the monster, its charisma and magic burning out her technology. Collapsing to her knees Diana lost control completely as golden fire radiated from her eyes and her skin morphed into a young woman, both beautiful and terrible to all who saw her.

Melissa looked across the field and saw Diana's body loose control of the creature that had escaped its bounds and taken control of her form. Looking over at Illyana she saw the Russian mutant nod sharing an unspoken conversation. Reaching out Melissa sliced through the Yew Tree and grabbed a splinter of wood with the symbol etched on the surface. Taking flight she thundered towards Diana a flurry of golden energy balls thrown up by her former teammate in an effort to stop her. It didn't work, with an angry scream Melissa slammed the wooden stake into Diana's chest and watched as the golden energy drained out of the cyborg and into the piece of wood before chucking it away as the golden fire incinerated the prison and imprisoned the goddess once and for all.

"Diana I want you to know that I am proud of you." Melissa whispered as she caught the sparking cyborg as she fell.

"Thank you." Diana croaked before one last charge of electricity ran through her system up into her brain before she shut down. Melissa laid the remains of her friend down on the floor before turning back towards Abe and the others stood, tears streaming down her face.

"SHIELD will be on station in three minutes." Emma told Abe, "This is now you're mess." she added, "Rest assured that you're secrets will be secure with us."

"Thank you for all the assistance you provided." Abe replied as the X-Men flashed out before striding out to where Chris and Melissa stood, heads bowed around their fallen friend and comrade.

* * *

Epilogue

SHIELD sealed the body away in a large lead lined coffin before placing it in a van with all the other items labelled as 'Evidence'. The official story that they were going to use was that Backlash and Whiplash had detonated a Thermobaric bomb at the Pleasant Hills Vineyard, no mention of the Scorpion Goddess would be made so the public would never know about the monster that had dwelled under the hills of California. The members of Highway Patrol; Iridium, Skylark and the newest member Oxide were asked several questions; the most difficult being what happened to 'Skylark's clothes. No mention was made of the X-Men and while Abe was sure that SHIELD knew about their involvement it was clear that they didn't want to know. After a tense few hours the team retired to their rooms, each of them preferring to sleep alone and avoid talking about Diana.

The two guards on the SHIELD evidence truck laughed and talked as they headed to the lock-up in Phoenix. Everything including the 'robot skeleton' and the glowing box would be stored their and probably never seen again. They didn't care, it didn't pay to ask questions and truthfully they didn't want to know the answer.

"Whoa we got some tremors today." the driver announced as the truck buckled. "They say that the idiots SHIELD sent to the raft set off a bomb that's affecting tectonics in the area."

"You believe that?" one of the guards snorted, "It was some kind of big monster not losers like Backlash and Whiplash."

"Still that gear looked hot, did you see Skylark dressed up in the stuff that Isabella wears. She looked hot no doubt." the second replied.

"Hey Lana what do you think?" the first guard hissed, "You're a dyke right?" Lana stalled the van and turned to look at the pair of idiots. "Get out." she snapped as she levelled a pistol at them. Jokingly the agents put up their hands and got out the van to see a massive figure towering over them, his scales puffed up as he wheezed in and out.

"Gentlemen." a German voice stated as the figures of Baron Zemo stepped out from behind the reptilian colossus. "My associates and I are taking you're truck, please don't resist." The SHIELD agents gasped and went for their pistols, Zemo sighed. "Puff Adder restrain them."

"Be a pleasure Baron." Puff Adder wheezed before ripping the head off on of the agents as the other turned and fled towards the van. He didn't get too far, as he reached the door the driver shot him before kicking open the door and descended to join the other Masters of Evil.

"Good work Beetle. You had no trouble getting in and out I assume?" Zemo asked.

"None Baron." the Beetle replied as she strapped on her wrist blasters that had been strapped to her legs under her trousers. "The goods are inside; I think you will be pleasantly surprised." Zemo flecked his hands before opening the doors and hopped inside, his eyes going straight to the glowing box. Cautiously he opened the box and removed his hood to reveal his scared face, a smile of triumph etched across his face.

"Yes my masters." Zemo purred, "I am indeed elated at our success." he finished closing the lid of the box and slipping it into a tactical hard case before hefting Diana's broken body from the coffin and passing it to Puff Adder. "We are one step closer to revenge." he added jumping out of the truck. "Tremor burry the evidence." he ordered as he headed off into the desert.

"Yes Baron." Tremor snarled before stomping her foot, fissures spreading out and swallowing the entire section of road, "For our revenge." she stated as the shaking ceased and she turned to follow Beetle and Puff Adder into the blazing heart of the Californian Desert. "My revenge not yours."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #16**

The Thunderbolts are in the city of sin in an attempt to steal some Vegas Luck. But the plans of Super Heros on the run often go array as some old friends show up looking for the perfect sinful getaway. Will the Thunderbolts be Double Crossed? Find out in the next issue.


	17. The Road to Redemption - Part I

Police sirens wailed around the bank in Reno as flashes of light occasionally erupted from inside. The local police knew that the costumed menace holding the hostages inside was deadly and that he had threatened to kill anybody who entered the building but now it appeared as if somebody had done just that and judging from the commotion, they were no friends of the hostage taker. The chief of police looked at his watch, soon the FBI would be involved but hopefully the situation would be resolved long before they were needed at all.

Melissa deflected a laser blast from one of the masked henchman with the arm mounted sonic buckler she had conjured. The main bad guy, Goldbug or somebody who was wearing the same costume was still clutching the bag of money he had extorted out of the cashier whilst shouting orders in German at his henchmen. Somewhere behind her something exploded and Melissa slipped away from her fight to see Chris melting the barrel of another thugs laser rifle, the power cell exploding and causing the man to run screaming out of the bank. Returning to the fight Melissa sent a wave of sonic energy at the thug she was fighting and sent him slamming into a water cooler before knocking him out with a sonic hammer.

"So much for the hired help." Melissa commented, "Do you think he'll surrender now that he's on his own?"

"I have little experience but I would wager no." Chris replied as Goldbug unholstered a pistol and fired, a beam of gold energy vaporizing the counter before stepping forward, his armor gleaming under the lights.

"Last chance Americans." Goldbug buzzed, "Leave now or I will detonate the bombs."

"What bombs?" Melissa asked, "You mean the ones attached to the hostages?"

"Ya and when they blow the poor customers will be entombed in gold before slowly suffocating." Goldbug told her.

"Umm Question." Chris said raising his hand, "If you can turn things into gold why are you robbing banks?" Goldbug cocked his head before raising his pistol and firing, beams of energy lancing across the room causing Melissa and Chris to dive behind a pair of desks to avoid being vaporized.

"You never ask them why." Melissa told Chris, "It just makes them cranky." she added as Goldbug vaulted the desk and headed for the front door. Moving swiftly Abe headed on an intercept course before tackling the felon and sending him sprawling to the ground sending the pistol and money bag sliding across the bank floor. Hurriedly he slipped a pair of handcuffs on the felon before leaning him against one of the few remaining desks. "What's you're name?" Abe growled.

"You will get no more words from my lips." Goldbug replied before dropping the detonator concealed in his hand. The device dropped and bounced twice before the bombs were activated exploding in a shower of gold paint and smoke. Everyone in the bank was covered by the blast but despite Goldbug's threats nobody was suffocating.

"So you were full of bull." Melissa snapped pushing past Abe and summoning a sonic dagger which she levelled at Goldbug's throat. "Name scumbag or I slip and this goes through you're throat."

"Henri Gould." Goldbug whimpered, "Please I'm just a banker."

"Well Henri Gould you are under arrest, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you are entitled to a lawyer and if you require the state will provide you one. But I figure that last part is moot, you probably have an entire legal team at you're disposal."

"And when I am acquitted I will find you and make you wish we had never met." Goldbug screamed at her.

"Oh hush you." Melissa told him before rabbit punching him in the face as the hostages took their chance and fled leaving the Thunderbolts alone in the bank with the defeated criminals.

"Do you reckon that they'll give me back my ATM card now?" Chris asked as the police barged in guns levelled at the hero's heads.

"No first we have to deal with the Media Circus." Abe told him, "Let's hope these clowns don't hog the spotlight." he added as the police recognized the uniforms of the 'Highway Patrol' and trained their weapons on Goldbug and his two henchmen instead. Replacing his helmet Abe smiled at Melissa and Chris before striding out into the Nevada sunshine, his teammates following him into the sound of sirens, camera shutters and cheers.

* * *

Abe sat on the bed typing on his laptop as the sound of showering came from the bathroom joined onto the room. He sighed, another villain foiled, another rat bag motel and as he listened to the water stop, another argument with Melissa. Looking back at the images his armor had taken of Goldbug during the villain's attempted heist he typed in another piece of data as Melissa emerged from the bathroom her hair wrapped in a towel and her body covered in a bra and some bikini briefs and nothing else.

"What are you working on? She asked flopping onto the bed next to him.

"I'm documenting everything we know about Goldbug, he did make a threat to come after us again." Abe told her, "I want to know what he is capable of next time we face him."

"If we face him." Melissa corrected, "He won't get out before his sentence is served, he is a loser and if he does follow threat on his threat we will beat him again."

"It's not that simple." Abe replied, "Henri Gould worked at Echidna Capital Management, a public banking front for HYDRA. In addition to that connection records show that Gould is in charge of a secret Swiss bank-account for Baron Strucker. He may be a neophyte in physical combat but he still is a deadly foe if he chose to come after us."

"So we deal with it when it happens. Ad-Hoc plans and improvisation is what we do best."

"And we saw how well that turned out in California." Abe snapped, "We can't just charge in we need to plan our next move."

"I knew you were going to bring Diana into this." Melissa spat, "How long are you going to use her as a guilt coupon? I have defended what I did so many times that now I actually believe that you are a complete idiot. Diana was never going to hold the Scorpion Goddess. She chose to sacrifice herself and when I heard her screams I knew exactly what I had to do."

"She still could have been saved if we had an actual plan other then kill the tree."

"Well today you're planning almost let Goldbug escape." Melissa hissed, "Chris and I were almost killed by him and you were busy documenting his technology and moves instead of just punching him out."

"I was dealing with the bombs; as soon as I knew that they were fake I made my move." Abe replied, "As for the whole punching thing I think you took care of that yourself."

"What do you mean?" Melissa growled.

"You threatened to kill Gould after he had surrendered, when he was bound and helpless." Abe replied, "All it takes is for one person to listen to his testimony and work out that Skylark and Songbird have similar powers, that they travel with an armoured mercenary whose armor looks similar to the suit worn by MACH V to figure out who we really are and send SHIELD, the Avengers and god knows who else after us. That and I saw you're face, you were enjoying torturing him, you liked the power you felt when you killed Diana and you wanted to feel it again."

"I forgot that you were part of the murder club." Melissa stated, her voice cold, "How you have a thing for killers. I was never going to measure up to Diana, to Erik and Karla because I never killed anyone, well how do you feel about me now?" she asked slapping the computer away and wrapping her legs around Abe's body as she pinned him to the bed.

"Honestly." Abe replied looking into Melissa's eyes. "I'm worried about you. I know that you are going through something, that you felt something powerful put what you did was a mercy killing, the feeling you got when Diana died is nothing compared to when you murder someone in cold blood. Honestly I think you would never forgive yourself is you went through with it."

Melissa sat back and placed a hand over her mouth and looked into Abe's eyes. "I'm sorry Abe it's just that ever since it happened I saw what my powers could really do. I remember Dorcas and his offer and while I never thought about accepting it, ever since Diana died I have imagined what I could do if I wasn't held back. There is a part of me that as soon as spilled Rosa and Diana's blood that has been crying out for more and I felt it surface during the fight with Goldbug and just now, I looked at you and thought how easy it would be to snap you're neck."

"Then you will have to fight it." Abe told her pushing her off him, "The Melissa I know would never let anything take over her body and use her to slay others no matter what the reason is." Melissa smiled and stroked Abe's face before kissing him on the cheek. "You are so good to me." she purred, "Why?" she asked as a knock on the door sounded.

"I'll tell you later." Abe replied, "Its open." he yelled. Seconds later the door opened and Chris walked in. "Did you see what was on the TV?" he asked as he went and turned the screen on.

"I'm just going to throw something on." Melissa told Abe before retreating to the bathroom as Chris flicked through the channels. "Here we go." he announced. Abe looked at the TV and saw a quartet of faces he recognized, silently he preyed that it was a hoax but moments later the interviewers voice broke shattered hopes.

"So Dr. Black what happened after you left the battle of Chicago?" the oriental woman asked the tall scowling dark skinned man that Abe recognized as Dr. Noah Black AKA Centurius.

"Due to the combination of faulty instruments and the chaotic magic left behind by the Juggernaut our tower along with all of us was thrown through time and space. We had to be very careful not to damage the space-time continuum as you can obviously imagine."

"Satana." a pot bellied man called, "Could you're magic have prevented this from happening."

"Unlikely the power behind the spell was very strong and I was unaware of what was happening until it was too late." the scantily clad red-haired woman told the press. Abe knew that both Satana and Centurius were lying but was curious about why they had returned now? Had FACT had anything to do with the return and if so what was the oversight committee's plans for the formally escaped Thunderbolts."

"Dr. Zabo." a third journalist called his British accent suggesting that he was a member of the international circuit. "How does it feel to be pardoned by the President? What are you're plans know that you and you're teammates are no longer wanted criminals."

"It was a honour." the timid spectacled man said quietly, Abe knew that Zabo was different from his alter ego Mr. Hyde but he considered both of them criminals. "Rest assured that we plan…" He petered out as the forth man coughed getting the media's attention.

"Boomerang here mates." the blonde man announced, "We are not going to throw our new found freedom away. That's why we are retiring from villainy. The brass has even brought us a suite in the Avengers Casino to thank us for helping out with the whole Shazard business."

"What's so important on the TV it couldn't wait?" Melissa asked emerging from the bathroom. Abe pointed at the screen as footage of the four felons shaking President Obama's hand was shown, the sound of Melissa grinding her teeth audible over the journalist's commentary."

"Where are the others and more importantly how the fuck did that happen?" she asked.

"Well they are heading to Vegas tomorrow." Abe announced, "I suggest that we be there to find out."

* * *

An entire nights driving split between the three Thunderbolts brought them to the oasis of sin that was Las Vegas shortly before dawn, not that the majority of the population were sleeping, vice and gambling seemed to be a twenty four hour a day business. Parking the worn out camper van that Abe had purchased from a very shady looking car-sales man in the casinos sar-park the Thunderbolts checked in, the plan was to regroup at nine ready for the 'Time-Bolts' arrival at ten. After five hours on the road none of them noticed the pair of armoured figures perched on the adjacent roof also eagerly awaiting the return of time's most wanted fugitives.

The smell of black coffee was intoxicating, more so then the continuous yawns of the three figures sat around the casino table, watching the die-hard gamblers already testing their luck on whatever their vice of choice was. Personally Melissa felt sick surrounded by so much greed and corruption although she felt that she couldn't rule out the service station omelette she had eaten last night as the cause of her discomfert either.

"So the plan will be executed in three stages." Abe told the others. "First we find out which suite they are in and do some passive surveillance. For this Melissa will pose as a member of the room-service team assigned to our 'teammates' and get a feel for the room. Once that's done she can use her powers to eavesdrop on thei conversations in the hopes of discovering their plans. Stage two will be the 'release' of Goldbug into the Casino, we can't use the original but luckily my armor took enough information to create a hard light decoy. Once released we will fight the villain until the Thunderbolts intervene, if they aid us we will thank them and do some subtle questioning if they help Goldbug we beat them and take them in for interrogation. After we have the info we activate Stage Three which will be to establish a dialogue, see if there is any information about FACT that we can learn from them."

"That seems like a lot of work." Chris huffed, "We don't have long anyway isn't one of them a super genius or something, what if they get wise to our plans or even figure out who you really are?"

"I have a contingency plan." Abe announced, "For now we find out what suite they are in and who is assigned to their rooms. They should be arriving soon and from here we should get a good view of the spectacle when they arrive." Chris turned to look out the window before scanning the roof-top of the building opposite, apparently a peregrine falcon lived in the area, using the rooftops as vantage points to stalk the pigeons that infested the Strip. Not seeing anything he looked away before catching the glint of something reflecting sunlight off the surface, it looked uncannily like a sniper scope.

"Something is wrong." Melissa stated suddenly, "I'm picking up voices; Zabo, Myers, Black and Satana, it's almost as if they are here already."

"A car just pulled up outside, Rolls Royce Phantom with blacked out windows. Crap the basterds leaked a fake schedule and we fell for it like everyone else." Abe swore as four figures wearing suits stepped out of the car and Satana blew the driver a kiss. "This doesn't change anything, we stick to the plan apart from the schedule change everything is still on track." he added as the Thunderbolts down below walked to the atrium.

"Look out there's a sniper." Chris bellowed as he pointed out the window. As everyone else in the restaurant hit the deck the Thunderbolts watched as the figure on the roof took the shot, the projectile fired embedding in Dr Zabo's arm as the target and his teammates looked across the rooftops for the shooter.

"Huh it was only a tranquilizer dart." Chris stated as security arrived to usher the Thunderbolts to safety. "Why would they tranquilize him?"

"Oh God." Melissa swore, "Abe we need to suit up now."

"Why?" Chris asked as he searched to find the sniper again.

Abe was about to reply when a massive roar ripped through the building before being joined by screams of panic and less then stellar gunfire from the security escort.

"Because," Abe stated, "Dr Zabo is also Mr. Hyde and someone just let him loose in the Casino."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #17**

The Road to Redemption never ran straight and the Time-Bolts are about to learn this the hard way as they face-off with former team mates and allies who have their own dark secrets. Plus an old adversary makes an explosive entry in an effort to make everything worse for both sets of Thunderbolts.

In addition I would like to wish everyone a happy holiday and a prosperous 2013.

Impurest Cheese

The New Thunderbolts will return in the New Year.


	18. The Road to Redemption - Part II

Abe pushed through the torrent of fleeing gamblers as he led the Thunderbolts down the stairs to the lobby, from where the screams of anger and small arms fire could be heard. None of the civilians paid the three 'maniacs' any attention as they hit the landings, they were simply eager to escape from Mr. Hyde's rampage on the main gamming floor. As the bolts hit the third floor the tide of civilians petered off, anybody who wasn't out already was either wounded or hiding somewhere within the danger zone. Abe shot Melissa a look before nodding, they both had been in this situation before; the plan was to get civilians out before facing Hyde and the other Thunderbolts. With a sonic powered kick Melissa sent the emergency door flying and flew through to overlook the main lobby, the centre supporting a dolphin themed fountain, a slot machine now floating in the base as in-house security fired shots from behind a long granite check-in desk. Straining Melissa listened for cries of help and breathed a deep sigh of relief, besides six or seven security agents everyone was outside of the atrium.

Leaping from the balcony Melissa slammed feet first into the tiled floor and flared a blast of sonic energy that caused Hyde to cover his face in order to block the burning light that enveloped him. When he put his arms down he saw that the woman dressed in a leotard had been joined by a pair of armoured figures.

"Mr. Hyde." Abe bellowed, "We would ask you to calm down, it would be a shame for you to waste the second chance that you were granted."

"Get lost you tossers." Hyde growled, "Before I snap you're bloody necks." he added snarling as Satana and Boomerang ran in and looked from their comrade to the security guards who were attempting to leave the area and finally to the costumed heros standing ready for battle.

"This is a misunderstanding." Satana purred, "We are the victims here."

"We saw the shooter but that doesn't cover Hyde's actions, he didn't have to go berserk when he changed." Melissa replied, "We are not here to fight you, we just want to make sure that you don't go back to prison for what could be termed as self defence."

"So you blokes are super lawyers or something?" Boomerang asked removing a pair of his trademark weapons from his belt. "Because we have had it with 'suits' pushing us around." he sneered as Chris lit up his hands ready to intercept any thrown projectiles that Myers was thinking about throwing.

"Stand down and we will help you." Abe ordered, "There are things that have changed since you left."

"Not likely mate." Boomerang answered releasing his weapons as they arched towards Melissa. Reaching out with his powers Chris incinerated the weapons before they even reached half way, reducing the bladed projectiles to ash and charred shrapnel.

"Iridium these Thunderbolts don't seem to understand what there about to lose." Melissa told Abe just as Hyde picked up the floating slot machine and threw it at her. With a flick of her wrist the machine slammed into a hastily erected sonic shield sending coins bouncing around the room. Seconds later Satana had thrown bolts of energy sparking up the shield and back to its wielder causing her to convulse in pain.

"You're the ones who are going to loose." Hyde growled leaping towards Abe before slamming into him feet first and sending him skidding across the floor to rest at the base of the stairs. "I don't know who you fuckers are but you've got the wrong end of the stick just like every other wanker we have come across recently." he added picking up a slab or marble and throwing it like a frisbee straight into Abe's chest. With a groan Abe fired one of his grenades and watched as the projectile was shot down by Boomerang as he threw another razor tipped weapon that cut through the anti-riot round and embeded in his revolver gauntlet.

"You may as well not bother." Myers lectured. "My business is throwing and catching, I was thinking about trying out for the Dolphins when the heat drops off." he added catching the Razorrang while Hyde ripped off a stone dolphin and charged towards Abe holding his improvised weapon like a battering ram. As he thundered towards his target the tiles begun to melt and become sticky trapping the charging behemoth before he could finish his assault. Chris pulled his hand off the floor and looked around to see Boomerang jetting up to the balcony his rocket boots flaring as he escaped the melting floor.

"Nice trick mate." Myers stated, "Now try this one." he suggested as he removed a Cryorang and tossed it down towards the young hero. Concentrating Chris heated up the air and watched as the weapon arched away from him before skidding to a halt in between Satana and Melissa. Summoning her powers over the pain she was feeling Melissa sent sonic waves towards the weapon and pushed it towards her attacker before watching the onboard Freon cell detonate and showering Satana with an icy blast disrupting her spell and allowing her to get to her feet as the witch staggered backwards.

"Myers you idiot." Satana snarled looking up at Boomerang as he threw another projectile at Iridium as he thundered up the stairs towards the marksman. "Can't you do anything right?"

"Hey this ain't my first rodeo." Myers snapped back as he saw Skylark pounce towards Satana as scarlet energy revolved around the daughter of Satan. Blinking he looked wide eyed as she vanished and was replaced with him as Melissa slammed into him, sonic talons outstretched. With a swift rocket assisted kick he knocked her off only to see her spread sonic wings that glowed a cool blue and dived on him before grabbing his shoulders and landing, flipping him over her shoulders. Satana shot Melissa and Boomerang an evil grin before turning to Abe, his cut down sword unholstered as he ran at her.

"Stop." Satana ordered as Abe continued his charge, "You don't want to hurt Me." she added layering her voice with seductive overtones as Abe stalled. Striding forward Satana ran her hands over his chestplate and removed his face plate before kissing him on the lips. Abe smiled and activated his Taser sending a burst if electricity through her body and sending her sprawling backwards. "I always preferred blondes myself." he told Satana while looking down as Melissa and Chris intercepted the hail of projectiles thrown by Boomerang, the felon vaulting over the front desk in an attempt to take cover from his targets counter attacks. Looking across he saw Hyde drag one foot out of the melted tiles before flinging the dolphin towards Chris's exposed back.

"Head's up." Abe yelled as Chris turned and saw the sculpture head towards him. Reaching out with his powers he saw the stone begin to bubble as it came towards him. From the desk behind him Boomerang threw a rang that arched past the young mutant's head and embedded in the statue before detonating showering 'Oxide' with chunks of burning stone. Spinning around Myers saw Melissa run towards him with a sonic blade before throwing a Boomerang that exploded in her face and released a heavy net that pinning her to the floor. "You're a fine catch Shelia." he commented, "Ever think about dating a bad boy like me?"

"And waste my time, hardly." Melissa replied, "You three have just signed your own arrest warrants by attacking us. Nobody is going to believe that you acted in self defence."

"Ain't you heard bitch." Hyde bellowed as Satana sent a pulse of energy straight into Abe's armor that sent him flying off the balcony. "We got pardoned by old Barrack Obama; we ain't got anything to fear from incarceration."

"Wow so you can say words of more then three syllables." Chris snidely replied as he punched Mr. Hyde in the back before being grabbed by the fist and pulled off the ground by the giant.

"You need to cool down prick." Hyde told the young mutant before submerging him in the fountain, holding his struggling captive under the surface.

"Hyde stop this." a commanding voice boomed. Hyde cocked his head to see Centurius standing in the main doorway surveying the carnage from the brief skirmish between the Thunderbolts and the Highway Patrol. "Release him." he added as Hyde pushed Chris deeper to the bottom of the fountain.

"Centurius why the hell didn't you help us subdue these tossers?" Hyde asked.

"Because I was studying them, analyzing their speech patterns, they were telling the truth about not wanting to fight us." Centurius explained, "Besides I have come to the conclusion that the three of them were not here by coincidence. I know that I am right but I would like to here there story as much as they want to here ours. Now release them."

Hyde shrugged and pulled Chris out of the fountain and slammed him into the tiled floor as Boomerang removed the net covering Melissa. "Well who are these punks?" Myers asked as Abe helped Chris to his feet, the latter literally smoking as his powers evaporated the water from his clothes and armor.

"They are the Highway Patrol." Centurius explained, "Vagabond Heros who travel from calamity to calamity, helping folks from threats that the majority of their kind would ignore. The records show four members of the team; Iridium, Skylark and Oxide are here but the fourth Revenant was lost in what SHIELD are claiming was a Thermobaric rocket strike although I am confident that the official events are nothing but a cover story. Am I right?" he asked Abe.

"Spot on." Abe answered, "But from what I heard eight Thunderbolts went missing after the battle of Chicago. Where are Fixer, Moonstone, Ghost and the Asgardian girl not to mention the Man Thing?"

"Man Thing was released into the Everglades." Satana spat, "I would have loved to be allowed to keep the Vagornus Koth but alas it was stolen from me."

"As for Troll she was sent to a preserve in Norway to keep her safe from human intervention." Hyde added, "Ghost was given the same deal as us but since he refused to provide a name they locked him back up in the Raft. Karla is there too she joined the Dark Avengers rather then come with us, something about us being idiots for not joining up."

"And Fixer?" Abe asked.

"Dead." Centurius answered, "You don't need to know the details lest it change the way you perceive time and space."

"That sounds ominous." Melissa answered, "Now that we…wait something is coming, I can hear it moving through the hotel."

"SWAT perhaps?" Boomerang suggested, "You guys are still going to vouch for us right?"

"Oh so now we're friends." Chris stated, "You would be lucky to have us help you after you tried to drown, electrocute, freeze and slice us up."

"It's not SWAT." Centurius stated, "They are three minutes from deploying."

"That and they would send more then one man." Melissa added, "Contact in twenty seconds by the sound of the footsteps. Arrival point will be the balcony." Turning the Thunderbolts saw a single figure walking along the raised platform before dropping the three stories to the floor and flipping to where the group was assembled.

"Joystick." Abe snarled, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What we were ordered to do Iridium." Joystick replied a massive smile stretched across her face. "What we were paid to do."

"And that is?" Melissa asked.

"Are you kidding me Lark face, we were paid by an anonymous source to make the Thunderbolts look bad." Joystick stated before slamming Hyde in the face with one of her power truncheons. As various hands reached for her she slipped through the fray and landed on the edge of the fountain.

"You deceived us." Hyde roared as the assorted Thunderbolts got to their feet and reached for weapons or summoned their powers. "You'll pay for this you wankers." he bellowed grabbing at Melissa's legs as she took to the air before slamming her into the floor.

"Don't be a fool Hyde." Centurius snapped, "This is obviously…" his words were lost as Joystick sprung over Satana and landed on the doctor's chest knocking him to the floor before slamming her truncheons together, a wave of concussive force knocking her target out. Spinning round she aimed a snap kick at Abe's groin, the blow causing him to double over as she vaulted over a pair of boomerangs and a volley of sonic daggers before stopping by the doors to the Strip. "And Game On." she bellowed before exiting the Casino. With a roar of rage Hyde followed with Boomerang and Satana in his wake leaving the Highway Patrol alone with the unconscious Centurius.

"Well we now know what happened to the others." Chris stated, "I suppose we are not going to let Hyde tear our 'teammate' limb from limb."

"I really hate that woman." Melissa told Abe, "But if we do let Hyde get her he goes back to the Raft with Boomer and Satana only a few seconds behind. Plus I want to know what Doc here meant about Fixer's death destroying time and space."

"Right so Plan A and B are scrapped, Plan C is capture Joystick send her to the Raft while keeping the others out." Abe announced as a mercifully empty police car flew past the window. "First things first, we neutralize Hyde, people are going to get hurt if this continues."

Joystick literally danced through the hail of thrown vehicles springing from one to the other before landing next to Satana, pinning the daughter of Satan to a bench. With a quick flick Joystick had smacked one of her elbows into the Thunderbolts chin causing her to stagger backwards into the path of a flying SWAT Van, it's occupants opening fire on Hyde as Boomerang threw screaming projectiles at a second van, the officers holding their hands over their ears and convulsing in pain. With a scream Melissa burst onto the scene as a blue rocket trailing sonic energy behind her straight into Joystick before getting a baton to the chest, sonic energy flaring behind her and chewing a crater in the pavement.

"You wankers again?" Hyde bellowed as Abe vaulted over a toppled SWAT Van and fired a Taser at the giant before being grabbed by the trailing wires and slammed into a trio of officers setting up a rocket launcher. Boomerang spotted what was going on and quickly leapt over to the four felled bodies and removed a Razorrang from his shoulder and dragged an officer to a standing position whilst holding the weapon against his throat.

"Welcome to Club Hostage amigo." Myers told the officer, "If any on you blokes come any closer then this good officer dies in the line of duty." he added turning to face Abe as he got to his feet and levelled his grenade revolver at the hostage taker. Putting his hands up Abe stepped back as Boomerang turned to face Chris who was busy melting the tarmac below Hyde's feet causing the massive Thunderbolt to leap further down the road to where Joystick was fighting Satana and Skylark.

"Time to put away you're toys Boomerang." Chris bellowed turning to face Myers, the former Thunderbolt looking down to see the majority of his prized weapons melting into piles of slurry. "I can still snap this feller's neck." Boomerang replied seconds before an anti-riot round slammed into his face causing him and his hostage to fall backwards onto the concrete the later rolling off unhurt by the impact.

"I've wanted to do that for a while." Abe admitted as he turned to see Joystick slamming crippling blows into the back of Hyde's legs while Melissa and Satana were exchanging sonic blasts and fireballs from opposite sides of the street. "Come on Boomerang won't be getting up for a while." Abe told his team-mate, "We still have to deal with Hyde, Satana and Joystick and they won't go down as easily as Myers."

Melissa watched as one of Satana's fireballs incinerated a massive hole in the coach she had been using as cover leaving her exposed to a follow up blast. Plugging the hole with a sonic shield she watched as the orbs of flame slithered over her shield before dropping like heavy flies onto the road causing the area to burst into flame. With a scream of anger Melissa sprung over the bus and slammed a sonic bubble over the impact site in an effort to keep the flame contained. With an evil chuckle Satana placed a hand on the tarmac, a pulse of energy streaking through the asphalt before landing under the jar, the sonic construct shattering like shrapnel, blades of hard sound glass biting at all the other combatants left in the fight. Melissa turned and threw a sonic hammer at the daughter of Satan, the weapon knocking her out.

"Skylark." Abe yelled, "We need some chains to hold Hyde while I administer the tranquilizer."

"Got it Iridium." Melissa replied as sonic chains sprung from the ground and held Hyde as he made a grab for Joystick, his lithe target easily springing to safety.

"Okay Joystick hit the pause button." Abe ordered as Boomerang crept up onto a burning truck his last boomerang clamped in his hand. "Who hired you?"

"You mean us." Joystick corrected him. "We are a team."

"Enough of the charade." Melissa hissed, "Tell us who you and the sniper are working for." Joystick smiled before running a pair of fingers across her lip and throwing her baton up into the air, intercepting the boomerang that Myers had just released, the impact causing the whole block to erupt with concussive energy and knocking everyone down. Staggering to his feet Abe saw Joystick sprinting away and locked on a shot with his grenade revolver, it was a long shot but doable. Behind him Melissa screamed a warning and Abe aborted as a sniper bullet drilled into the road where he had been standing. Looking up he saw the flash of sunlight on a glass scope and watched as Melissa dragged Chris behind the remains of the bus.

"Go." Abe yelled, "Satana and Boomerang are out and I can deal with Hyde," he ordered. Melissa nodded and took to the air heading for the rooftop of the Venetian Casino where the sniper was positioned. Scanning the roof top she saw the gun connected to a miniature satellite dish, the weapons camera scope sending information back to the shooter. Kicking the weapon over Melissa heard footsteps behind her and spun round to see a man clad in ballistic armor, his face covered with bandages save for two scopes their tinted lenses glowing red over his eyes and a filter mask over his nose and mouth, his hands wrapped around a pump action shotgun.

Flinging up a sonic shield Melissa breathed a sigh of relief as the blasts ricocheted off the surface of her barrier, whoever the shooter was, he was green, and he simply seemed to be unaware that his weapon couldn't breach her defences. Behind her something whirred and she turned to see three CROW turrets unpack and open fire on her, causing her to shift her focus and expand her shield, the hail of bullets ricocheting off her barricade. The bandaged sniper cocked his head and picked up a weapon with a satellite dish on the end and fired, the beam of energy enveloping Skylark's shield and causing it to implode in on itself the force of the blast throwing Melissa off the rooftop.

Abe slipped over Hyde's blow and jammed an armoured fist into the giant's face, electricity running across the monster causing him to grunt in pain. Following up his first attack Abe stabbed his cut down blade in the Thunderbolts thigh before activating his Taser again, the electrical blast causing Hyde to fall to his knees, his eyes glaring at Abe as he reached out to grab his foe. Stepping back Abe heard gunfire and looked up to see Melissa falling from the roof. Removing his blade from Hyde Abe threw his weapon at his team-mate, the sword slashing through Melissa's shoulder and pinning her to the side of the casino, her fall terminated on the fifth floor. With a sigh of relief Abe turned to see Hyde's fist slam into his face knocking him to the floor, the giant towering over him.

"I am going to enjoy this." Hyde snorted as he grabbed Abe by the arms and begun to pull, pain running up and down his victim's armor, the titanium plates screeching as they were pulled apart until Hyde stopped and begun to sway, his tongue lolling. Abe narrowed his eyes and kicked, his blow knocking the Thunderbolt down the floor. Rubbing his head he detached his gauntlets and slipped out to see a woman in a SHIELD uniform clutching a set of throwing knives, one of the blades already embedded under Hyde's ear-lobe as a Quinn Jet hovered over the strip, armoured agents repelling down to the floor.

"You're welcome." the woman announced, "This is Agent Leighton; the last of the Thunderbolts is down, move in and secure them for transportation."

"You're taking the wrong people." Abe protested, "Joystick is the real cause of the carnage."

"Plus the man with bandages." Melissa added as she glided over to where Abe and Agent Leighton were standing, "Thanks for the save." she added shooting Abe a warm smile as a pair of agents gagged Satana and walked her over to the Quinn Jet.

"Ma'am we have three of the targets, the fourth is still missing." An agent told Leighton. "Centurius isn't out here with the others."

"He was knocked out as he tried to prevent the fight from escalating." Abe told Leighton, "While the others did make a mess of things out here he wasn't involved."

"It doesn't matter he will be held with the others." Leighton told them, "We don't need anti Avenger extremists joining up with the X-Men; we already believe that the Beetle and Songbird are gathering criminals to act as a second front for the forces of Utopia."

"I doubt that." Melissa mumbled, "Leighton you we're Diamondback right?"

"I still am." Diamondback replied, "What of it?"

"You are a massive role model of mine," Melissa bluffed, "But Hyde and the others were provoked into going berserk, surely a reformed criminal such as yourself will at least give them a chance to reform as well?"

"It's not that I don't believe they can change it's just that the evidence you have given me is inconclusive. Okay the Bandaged Man could be anybody but I know from regular reports from FACT that Joystick is still incarcerated in the Raft." Diamondback explained, "My hands are tied but if you can bring me proof then SHIELD may reconsider the fate of the Thunderbolts." she added as a handcuffed Boomerang was moved into position. "Of course you only have four hours before our escort is re-armed and re-fuelled as well as the shift change on the mini-carrier we have stationed on the outskirts, after that then you will have to deal with FACT."

"Thank you." Melissa replied sincerely as Chris staggered out from behind the bus. "At least now we know who sent Bandages and Joystick."

"Who?" Chris asked.

"FACT of course, now all we have to do is prove it."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #18**

The Thunderbolts are in a race against time to prove the involvement of FACT in the attack on the Las Vegas strip. But with quarry as canny and elusive as Joystick and the mystery sniper will the Road to Redemption terminate in the city of sin? Find out in the arc finale as the fates of Mr. Hyde, Centurius, Boomerang and Satana are determined once and for all.


	19. The Road to Redemption - Part III

Chris sat watching the online clock count down as the file transfer bar crawled towards the 75% mark on the rented computer. Melissa had managed to sweet talk Agent Leighton into sending them mug-shots of some of SHIELDs most wanted marksmen in the hopes that 'Bandages', as the sniper was being referred as, would turn up. After paying to use the Internet Café's frustratingly slow computers she had left to look for Joystick, a somewhat futile effort, Chris thought, but then a lot of things that the Thunderbolts had done since he had met them in Port Angeles could be seen as futile yet somehow it mostly worked out.

"Got anything kiddo." Abe asked as he walked up behind Chris and leaned on the chair.

"Still loading despite their claims of having Wi-Fi." Chris moaned, "You heard from Mel yet?"

"She just texted me and told me to turn on the radio and switch the channel to KPLV." Abe answered, "I have no idea why." he added as Chris opened a new window and searched for the broadcast.

"We have a special guest with us today." the DJ chirped, "The recent sensation hitting the highways of our great state; Faye 'Roadrunner' Jenkins, the long distance marathon runner. Good Morning Faye, we have heard that you are issuing a challenge to our listeners."

"That's right." a second woman answered and Abe instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Melissa. "I will be at Doc Romeo Park looking for a challenge. If anybody thinks they can run a distance of two kilometres in a quicker time then me I am willing to pay them five hundred dollars."

"Wow that sounds like a bit of a gamble Faye."

"The whole world is a game just waiting to be played." 'Faye' replied, "That's my outlook on life and while I believe in the merits of simply taking part we all secretly want to win."

"So just a recap then the Roadrunner will be taking all challengers in Doc Romeo Park at 10:30 and five hundred dollars is the prize if you can outpace her." the DJ repeated. "Now Faye do you want to make a request while you are here?"

"Sure, do you have Joystick by the Dazz Band?" Faye asked.

"Sure do and now for a little smooth soul, we will be back with the news, sports and travel after Joystick by the Dazz Band." The DJ stated just before Abe closed the link to reveal the completed download bars. "Well down Mel," he stated, "Listen Chris head out to Doc Romeo Park and set up a little surprise for Joystick, she's fast but a little melted track should be enough to stop her. I'll finish off here and find our second perp."

"You really think that Joystick will fall for the trap?" Chris asked. Abe smiled, "Trust me it's not a matter of falling for it, 'Faye' made a challenge and the one thing that Joystick can't say no to is a challenge."

Melissa stretched her legs as she stood on the end of the Lone Mountain Trail at the northern end of the park watching buzzards circling over the mountains of the horizon. As 'Faye' she was using a set of genetic camouflage nanites that made her appear as a beautiful six foot Amazon with chestnut shoulder length hair, and while the strain of being stretched when she injected herself was utter agony she was secretly enjoying being a full six inches taller. It defiantly made a difference on the casual joggers using the path, guys in particular were taking more notice of her, and while some of it was the shorts and tank top a lot of it was down to her new physique. Smiling to herself she remembered how easy it had been to sweet talk the guard into letting her in and then using her powers to subtly convince the listeners that Faye was a real person. Even more subtly she had sent subsonic pulses out that would make the majority of people dismiss the challenge as something they wouldn't be able to win. Joystick wouldn't be affected, Janice had been known to challenge people to something as mundane as dishwashing, the woman lived for competition.

"Anything?" Chris asked from his concealed ambush point a kilometre up the path.

"Here she comes." Melissa announced as Joystick ran down the road in her usual costume, terminating her run with a set of back-flips before landing in-front of her competition. Mocking a wide eyed stare 'Faye' clapped and extended a hand towards the challenger. "So you're my competition?" Melissa stated, "I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before though."

"The name's Joystick." Joystick told her, "I was the leader of this super team; The Thunderbolts you may have heard of them. They got rid of me when they became too intimidated by my skills, especially Speed Demon, he could never catch up with me."

"Wasn't Songbird the leader of that team, or Baron Zemo, possibly Hawkeye and Moonstone?" Melissa asked, "Wait you don't have super speed or something like that?" she feigned knowing that Joystick would lie about being able to keep pace and even overtake the majority of road worthy vehicles.

"You mean you don't have powers?" Joystick replied sarcastically, "Oh well you may as well give me my half a grand now, I feel like spending lunch at a strip bar before I clock in tonight." Melissa decided that now was the perfect time to slip away, jogging down the path. Joystick cocked her head before fingering one of her energy truncheons and throwing it at the fleeing 'Roadrunner'. The baton whizzed through the air, ionizing the air and leaving a trail of blue gas behind it, heading for Melissa's exposed back. Reflexively she flicked round, her powers propelling her up towards the baton and caught it, the burning energy bar scorching her skin until it cooled down seconds later.

"So it's a relay race?" Joystick asked covering the distance Melissa had run in half a second and slamming her opponent in the face with her second baton, "You must have some super powers to make a save like that." she stated pulling the intercepted baton away from Melissa and kicking her back down into the track, "You know I broke old Demon's legs last time we met, I'd do the same to you but you're kind of cute, you got a boyfriend?" she asked as she grabbed 'Faye' by the shoulder and helped her up.

"Yes, his name is Roland." Melissa replied loudly. Joystick dropped her and shrugged, "My money, it would be nice to get a bonus in addition to what FACT is paying."

"Janice you're an idiot." Melissa hissed before slugging Joystick in the face, "Seriously before you shoot you're mouth off think who you might be talking to." she added bringing in a second punch before being grabbed by Joystick and slapped round the face with a baton and a follow up snap kick sending her sailing down the path before slamming down on her back. Leaping after her Joystick thudded down onto her chest and crossed her batons across Melissa's pinning her down against the concrete. "So you know who I am but while I love guessing games as much as any other kind of competition I figure that you have probably called the cops so I'm just going to beat you quickly and run. Any words about that?"

Melissa replied by spitting in Janice's face and repelling her with a sonic shield pushing her assailant back before taking to the air and soaring off down the path. Thundering after her Joystick passed where Chris was sitting and suddenly felt the melted concrete grab at her legs until it entombed her up to her shins as Melissa swung down and slammed into her feet first knocking her into the rapidly cooling trap. Thrashing around Joystick looked up as Melissa pulled her up enough so that her arms and head were above the surface.

"You fucking bitch, you cheated I want my money or I will…"

"You'll what? Sit there and curse." Melissa finished for her, "Now I know that FACT hired you thanks to that big mouth of yours. Tell me what I want to know before I loose my patience."

"Bite me." Joystick answered, "I can still win." Melissa rolled her eyes before taking Chris's phone and tapping in a four digit number. As she hit send Joystick's wrist bracers begun to flash causing the trapped villain to stare in disbelief at what was happening.

"Two minutes to talk Janice or you blow up." Melissa warned.

"I still win."

"Actually you don't. 'Roland' honey how is the internet saturation of the 'Joystick = Loser' Campaign?" Melissa asked.

"An hour and a half until it is completed." Chris answered nervously.

Joystick snarled something incredibly dirty before attempting to reach for something in her left eye. Bending down Melissa carefully slipped a finger in and removed a contact lens with a miniature power cell. Handing it to Chris she patted Janice on the head, "See that wasn't too hard now was it?" she replied mockingly. "Let's get this thing analyzed." she said turning to Chris, "We are running out of time." she added as they walked away from Joystick her gauntlets beeping.

"Hey come back here you skank." Joystick yelled, "We had a deal turn the chips in my armor off."

"Work it out." Melissa called back before creating a sonic platform and levitating it into the air.

Abe rubbed his temple as he scanned the files; so far he had no viable candidates although with the culprits face covered he could easily have found the shooter already and passed on by. Hopefully Melissa and Chris had managed to subdue Joystick and had some kind of lead to their second perpetrator. Yawning he pressed the next button and suddenly saw an encouraging site, a man whose face was covered in thick bandages and judging from the profile that SHIELD had written he was a perfect candidate for support of the job that Joystick had pulled off earlier.

"Hey baby," a female voice sounded and Abe turned around to see Melissa's genetically altered face towering above him.

"Having fun?" he asked as Chris walked in holding a bag with the contact camera hidden inside. "I assume this isn't from Specsavers. By the looks of it this gizmo is analogous to a black box, it records everything Joystick has done since she put it in her eye" he added. "Good work with Joystick by the way, SHIELD will probably pick her up soon and I'm cleaning up the audio from the conversation you had with Janice, she actually ratted out FACT without realizing it."

"Good work to you too." Melissa replied, "Looks like you found 'Bandages' just in time."

"Yeah Tito Assard AKA the Janissary, a high tech gunman for hire who just so happens to be a bit of a tech whizz. Think of him as the basted offspring of Bullseye and Arcade and then throw a bit of Fixer into the mix and then you have perfectly described this creep. Looks like he's an expert in A-Symmetric combat so he is going to be a pain in the ass to find." Abe stated as he scrolled down the page, "Add in our deadline and it's unlikely we are going to find him."

"Maybe not. If he and Joystick met up after the fight then maybe the eye-spy located where their hideout is" Chris ventured. Abe looked at him with amazement before grinning ear to ear. "It's worth a shot kid." he replied removing the micro camera and examining it. "Got it." he whispered before inverting the contact and removing the chip and inserting it in his phone. "And bingo we are watching the last six hours of Joystick's day from the flight in up until she won a concrete bath."

Melissa landed down on the edge of McCarren International Airport, the place identified as the meeting point that Joystick and Janissary had used at least three times since arriving on a privately chartered plane. Dropping the platform she had been dragging she rubbed her back, after removing her genetic camouflage her spine was feeling a bit stiff, as if it had been stretched, hopefully it would not affect her reflexes too much. Rubbing up against the hanger where the pair of mercenaries had arrived in a Learjet she sent a sonic pulse through the building before removing the tablet mounted on her arm, a 3D sonic map of the structure including the single occupant inside revealed on the screen.

"Good he's in." Abe stated selecting a set of flashbangs and loading them into his revolver. "We go in fast and we go in hard." he added. "Oxide make us a hole." he ordered as Chris walked up to the door and slammed his fist into the massive shutter before reducing the barrier into slurry in seconds. Stepping forward Abe fired a single grenade as all the Thunderbolts surged forward as Melissa tackled Janissary to the ground knocking the rifle from his hand. As the light dimmed Melissa picked up her target revealing it to be a dummy.

"He knew we were coming." Abe snarled looking around taking in the wires spread across the entire complex. "Shit everyone get off the floor." he yelled as the ends sparked and an electrical current pulsed through the floor shocking the entire team and momentarily stunning them as a set of CROW turrets whirred from the corners of the room and filled the air with bullets. Spreading a sonic shield around her team Melissa scanned the room for the real target and watched as one of the packing crates split open revealing the Janissary clutching the same rifle he had stunned her with on the main strip. "Eight O'clock," she screamed using the shield to amplify her words as Assard opened fire, the blast of energy causing the hard sound construct to close in on her.

"Mel." Abe yelled as his teammate collapsed. "You basted you will pay for that." he snarled as he ran towards Assard ducking under the plane and tackling the man back into the crate. Slamming his fist into Janissary's face Abe felt cold steel under the bandages and turned to see an energy gate shut off the only exit of the box. Looking up Abe saw the wall of energy burn through a strand of nano-wire wrapped around the pin of a Freon grenade stuck to the ceiling of his makeshift cage. Hitting the deck Abe felt a wave of cold wash over him and activated the thermal under-layer of his suit, the warm energy cutting through the ice covering his suit ash he sat, helpless to aid his teammates.

Now alone Chris carefully walked over to the crate that Abe was stuck in, scanning the hanger for more traps or the man responsible for the ambush. Movement caught the corner of his eye and a CROW turret reared up from behind a luggage trolley before opening fire; its projectiles long spears dragging lengths of wire behind it that cut through the assorted boxes and crates that were scattered across the hanger. One sliced past Chris's wrist the thin strand of wire leaving a long laceration across the skin. Summoning his powers the last member of the Thunderbolts focused on the wires, the razor sharp steel cables melting all across the room leaving behind grey rivers of metal that flowed across the floor towards him.

Curious Chris stepped on one of the streams watching as the liquid metal shivered when his boot cut off the flow, a pulse running across the entire network igniting the rivers into torrents of blue fire that swirled and eddied across the room towards where Melissa lay unconscious from the sonic attack. Sprinting across the room Chris leapt on-top of her as a torrent of fire washed over them, his body taking the brunt of the heat, his powers working overtime to shield them both until he begun to choke, the smoke causing him to drift into unconsciousness. Looking up he saw a man with a bandaged face and gas mask step forward clutching a pistol, his eyes glowing red against the blue smoke the drifted across the room.

Abe shifted his thermal layer and sudden movement shattering the remaining ice before turning to see Janissary standing over Chris and Melissa, cocking a pistol ready to execute his team members. With a roar of anger Abe walked through the energy gate, the radioactive energy burning his skin through his armor and opened fire with his grenade revolver, the flashbang smacking the handgun from the mercenaries hand and causing him to twirl round and throw a set of bayonet mines at his attacker, their bladed tips embedding in the Lear Jet and the floor before revealing a detonator. Abe surveyed the situation, it was just like the Reno situation, Chris and Melissa were defiantly in danger and the mines weren't simple paint bombs this time. Slowly he removed his sword and placed it on the ground, not taking his eyes off Janissary as he striped his suit of the inbuilt Taser and grenade revolver before kneeling on the floor and putting his hands behind his head. Silently he watched as his HUD came up with a firing solution that would hit his target and tapped his elbows together revealing a hidden micro-flachette hidden in each sleeve. With another tap he fired and watched as the tiny dart bounced off the walls and floor before embedding in Melissa's arm as Janissary tightened his hand on the detonator.

"Sometimes you just punch them." Abe yelled as he got up and charged at the mercenary as he punched instructions, the chemical secretion activating Melissa's powers to bloom into a massive sonic shield at the same time the mines detonated followed by the Lear Jet's fuel tank. Diving through the inferno Abe saw Janissary remove a high powered Tabuk Sniper Rifle and fire a trio of shots before shifting position as Abe fired a second flachette, the dart embedding in Assard's gas mask and causing him to cough and choke as his airflow was cut off. Slamming his fist into the mercenary Abe felt skin under his gloves and watched Janissary collapse into a heap. Picking the villain up and slinging him over his shoulder Abe ran for the door grabbing Melissa and Chris before flinging himself onto the tarmac outside of the now blazing hanger. All around him sirens could be heard getting closer as fire trucks and police cars came thundering down the runway followed by a pair of armoured vans with the SHIELD eagle emblazoned on the side. Sighing with relief Abe pulled the dart out of Melissa's arm and stroked her arm.

"Sometimes you just punch them." he repeated.

* * *

**Epilogue(s)**

"So where are you guys heading?" Boomerang asked Abe as he loaded his tool kit back into the VW Campervan the Thunderbolts had bought in California.

"We're going out towards Texas and then going east until we hit Florida, from there who knows?" Abe replied.

"You're secret is safe with us as ours hopefully will be with you." Centurius told them as he watched Zabo struggling to load up a combat pack.

"Hopefully Fixer will find a way out." Melissa stated, "Thank you for telling us the truth, considering what it might have done to the entire planet it was very brave of you."

"Well you did rescue us from being incarcerated; I just hope that it will be a long time before Hyde resurfaces." Zabo wheezed as Chris handed him a bottle of water from a second pack, "You have our e-mail address, if you ever need another head to figure things out just send us a message."

"Will do." Chris snorted, "It's a shame that Satana didn't come down to see us off."

"Well it's her loss." Boomerang answered, "I'll be seeing you blokes around I'm certain of It." he told the Thunderbolts as he hopped in the back of the Camper Van.

"Umm what the hell." Melissa said, "You are not coming with us Myers."

"Beg to differ boss, I figure that if you're heading to Florida then you can give me a lift to Miami, like I said earlier I was thinking about trying out for the Dolphins and travelling with you I should get plenty of practice." Myers replied, "Plus Abe said it was cool."

"I took a chance. And if FACT is really after the remaining Thunderbolts this may be the best way to find out why." Abe told her as he slipped into the van's driver seat. Melissa rubbed her face before following him inside with Chris shutting the doors behind them leaving Zabo and Centurius alone on the steps. Heading back to the suite Zabo sat down and watched the Thunderbolts head down the strip, while they had been saying goodbye Satana must have ordered room service as a Chinese meal for four had been set out. Absent mentally he walked over and cracked open one of the fortune cookies and read the message out loud.

"Justice is served."

As the last word left his lips the bomb under the table exploded spraying hellfire across the room and engulfing him and Centurius, reducing everything in its path to ash.

* * *

Joystick and Janissary were escorted into the chamber where they had first met a few days ago. The Guardsmen stopped at the door pushing them inside as the three people at the table watched them with piercing eyes.

"So you failed." Ms. King, a striking blonde woman in a business suit spat. "Luckily are third operative was ready incase you did."

"We didn't expect more players in the game." Joystick complained. "Besides they have nothing to link you to the attack."

"Really." Mr Umbridge said calmly, his dark skin blending in with the shadows that crisscrossed the room, "The iris-recorder caught everything, you betrayed us Joystick and because of that you're place in the new order is forfeit. Take her away to Deep Storage, we only except winners here."

"I am not a loser." Joystick screamed as a pair of Guardsmen dragged her from the room.

"Mr. Assard." Mr. Lane announced, "You held you're tongue and were betrayed along with us, you are safe but fail us again and you will join Miss. Yostick." Janissary bowed his head before being escorted out as another prisoner was brought in.

"Ah Mr. Gould we are sorry for you're travel arrangements, rest assured you're release is being arranged as we speak." King told the man. "What news from Baron Von Strucker?"

"His faction of HYDRA is interested in you're scheme and wish to be a part of it." Goldbug announced, "Our operatives, weapons and technology will be used to help you."

"Good, when you get out tell the Baron that he has made an intelligent choice and that his reward for being the first of the HYDRA factions to join us, he will be given a new world to mould when we are victorious." Lane told him. Gould smiled as another pair of Guardsmen arrived to take him back to his cell. Umbridge swung on his chair to face the corner, with King and Lane doing the same.

"Thank you for waiting, you succeeded where Assard and Yostick failed." Lane announced, "And while indiscrete it served a purpose."

"My fee." a voice from the shadows replied.

"Of course Miss. Hellstrom." King told the figure hidden in the shadows. "The coordinates of the area where we released the Swamp Walker." she continued holding out a tablet. Stepping out of the shadows, Satana took the device and stared at the map on the screen.

"At last the Man Thing is mine to command." she hissed before disappearing in a jet of flame. Lane sat and turned to the others a grimace on his face, "Soon this world will be ours and the Thunderbolts will be brought to Justice for what they did to us."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #19**

A team of deadly and efficient killers is released on the orders of FACT to hunt the Thunderbolts. Will the team survive the coming onslaught and just who is FACT hoping will join their crusade against the Thunderbolts? Find out as Skylark, Iridium, Melter and Boomerang become Human Prey in the next issue.


	20. Human Prey - Part I

The battered VW Camper Van slowed down as it passed the burning service station, its occupants surveying the carnage that had occurred. "Not again." the woman in the back seat moaned.

"Should we get out there and help?" the other back seat passenger asked as he stroked his blonde goatee.

"Shit." the driver yelled swerving away from the station as a rocket came flying across the forecourt towards their van. Behind him the sound of a loud horn caused him to flinch and he saw the eighteen wheeled juggernaut barrelling towards them. Shutting his eyes he heard a loud humming sound and forced himself to open one just a peek to reveal clouds moving up above him and the truck steaming past underneath the van.

"Is this heaven?" he asked, "Did we die?"

"No sir." a female voice announced as a woman in a skirted leotard flew past, sky blue energy emanating from her hands as she dragged the van out the way, "Although you should be careful where you park next time." she added putting the vehicle and it's occupants down in a lay-by on the opposite side of the road. Giving a quick salute she flew up and hovered over the scene of carnage. "Iridium see if you can take down Bushwhacker that's the third car he almost took out, we are running out of room to put them."

"I'll get on it once I've dealt with Buzzsaw. He just cut through a Buick and is heading back towards the hostages." Iridium answered, "How's the situation with Blackbird?"

"She dropped down by the water tower." Skylark replied, "I haven't seen her since." she added as she flew over the petrol station where Boomerang was laying prone on the floor clutching a pair of his trade mark weapons. "Boomer what the hell are you doing?" she screeched as she avoided a hail of fire from Bushwhacker's entrenched position."

"Getting an angle." Boomerang answered, "Whacker is sitting on a whole heap of munitions, a well placed Shatterang would blow it up nicely. My only problem is that every time I put my head above water he starts shooting at me, I need a distraction so I can throw one of these little beauties down the range."

"That all." Skylark mocked as she dive-bombed Bushwhacker causing him to turn round and fire up at her as she danced across his field of fire. Boomerang pulled himself up and deactivated the safety on his exploding 'Shatterang' and adjusted his arm before throwing the weapon, watching as it arched over Bushwhacker's head and curved back towards him before embedding in the platform the villain was standing on. Counting down on his fingers while watching Skylark sail off towards the diner where the 'B-Team' was keeping their hostages Boomerang tapped the trigger and watched as the entire platform was vaporized leaving a dazed Bushwhacker staggering towards the petrol station before collapsing next to the bullet ridden chassis of one of Shield's mobile prisons, in reality a massive truck equipped with power dampers and stasis tubes. Bushwhacker, Blackbird, Bison and Buzzsaw had escaped when the truck had stopped for gas murdering the SHIELD agents and taking the staff and travellers who had been using the service station hostage.

Chris flinched at the sound of explosion and turned around to see the column of smoke rise from the area around the petrol station. He had deliberately lured Bison away from the area due to the very threat his powers presented to the fuel stored in the pumps, hopefully nobody had been hurt by the explosion. He looked around just in time to see the genetically altered thug come charging towards at him, the big bruiser of a man snorting and bellowing as he tossed cars aside as if they were children's toys. Chris dived out the way as Bison reached him and watched as the larger man skidded into the car-wash, slamming into the rollers and roaring in anger before ripping his way out, his hide glimmering in the New Mexico afternoon sun.

"Why couldn't you just let us leave without being hassled?" Bison snorted as he thundered towards Oxide, the young hero closing his eyes as the air simmered around him. Bison begun to feel the water evaporate of his skin and laughed before making a crack about his adversary being a human hand drier. It was only when his skin begun to steam that the laughter turned to screams of panic and roars of pain. Oxide quickly sprung over the few scattered obstacles between them and slammed his fists into the villains chest, hitting him again and again, each blow feeling like a burning hammer strike to Bison before he eventually fell, the weight of the blows and the agony of being caught in the steam explosion too much for the felon to take.

"This is Oxide." the hero announced, "Bison is out for the count."

"Good." Iridium added, "I have managed to move Buzzsaw away from the hostages. Boomer has already taken out Bushwhacker, meet up with him and get them somewhere secure while Lark and I finish off."

"Roger that Iridium." the hero heard as he leapt back from a spinning disc punch that Buzzsaw threw in his direction. With the majority of his armour's offensive systems still being repaired the armoured hero Iridium had very few options left to his equally armoured opponent. Slamming against the chain link fence Iridium looked from left to right taking in the number of abandoned cars, some of which even had their engines still running.

"End of the road hero." Buzzsaw cackled causing Iridium to jerk his head back round, "You all think you're so smart, well lets see what happens to you're IQ when you have no head." he threatened as he revved his saw blades to maximum speed. Thrusting them at the hero he watched as his target ducked, his weapons entangling with the fence and immobilizing the blade. Spiting in anger Buzzsaw watched as Iridium removed the covering of the heavy duty cables that powered the service stations neon sign before connecting them to the fence. With a scream Buzzsaw was catapulted away from the fence leaving the entangled saw stuck in the wire smoking as spitting before the portable fuel tank attached to the weapon exploded. Getting to his feet he saw Iridium walk over before pinning him to the floor with an armoured foot.

"End of the road Buzzsaw." Iridium told him as Skylark flew overhead, "The Highway Patrol doesn't allow thugs like you to get away with things like this. If you simply had run you wouldn't be heading for the Raft right about now."

The image paused and Miss King brought up a series of stats. "We are currently overcrowded here at the Raft." she explained to the man on the other end of the video link. "With the Avengers fighting the X-Men we won't be able to effectively contain all the prisoners that are sent our way. With 42 destroyed and the Vault offline we will be forced to put super criminals in standard prisons, the number of escapes will triple. That's why we want to petition for a new prison to be built, we know that you are thinking of submitting plans to SHIELD which we fully back them, all we ask is that you think of us when you look for a regulating body."

"We will need a catalyst to help us push through this motion." Mr Lane added, "Something akin to Stamford or Soldiers Field although hopefully on a much smaller scale. We already have ideas for something acceptable. Losses will be zero, damage mild and we already have super powered agents waiting to respond if things get out of hand. If you back our idea then such a thing won't happen."

"I will think about it." the contact replied before terminating the link. Lane turned to the others and shrugged. "We appear to be making progress; the mutant problem is defiantly something we can spin to our advantage."

"And the 'escaped prisoners'?" Umbridge asked, "Are they ready for the task?"

"Ready?" King asked, "They are already in play. If they succeed then we win two victories; the death of the Thunderbolts and the expansion of our empire."

* * *

Myers sat in the back of the camper van as the rusting hulk limped over the state line into Texas; it had been a day since the skirmish at the service station, the siege ending with Melissa slamming Blackbird head first into the water tower. At first he had been happy about the attention he, and to a lesser extent the others, had got after their defeat of the B-Team but all too soon the news had shifted towards more series events. SHIELD and the Avengers were reported to have started an invasion of Utopia down in San Fran, easily eclipsing the news of four backwoods vigilantes capturing four C-List super-villains. To be honest he should be enjoying the lack of attention, the slaying of his former teammates had been in the news a lot, people were even blaming him although he denied it and his new team were backing his alibi, at least for now.

After a week of travelling he believed he had a good handle of how the others worked together; Abe was the boss, at least on paper, as well as their tactician when they planned anything big, the team's fateful trip to the Grand Canyon sprung to mind although evil living cacti aside Myers thought it hadn't gone to badly. Melissa was the field leader, she was more pugnacious then Boomer remembered although her concern with saving civilians had grown, almost as if she believed saving every single life would make a difference. Apparently something had happened in California but so far nobody was filling in the blanks for him, especially the moody teenager he was constantly sharing the back seat with. Chris disliked him that was plain to see, although Myers had no idea why, he had never heard of the Melter before joining the team in Vegas let alone met him before, but the kid had instantly decided to hate him and no matter what Boomer tried to reverse his opinions on him they always failed.

"Time for a switch over." Melissa stated as Abe yawned at the wheel, "Boomer we got you insured to drive this piece of junk back at Phoenix, since Abe and I are virtually exhausted we need you to drive us to Odessa, we have accommodation booked there for the night."

"I won't let you down boss." Boomer replied happily as Abe pulled the van over onto a lay-by on the side of the highway before slipping out of the driver's seat and walking round to the back. Hoping out the back Myers took the keys and strolled round to the front before opening the door. Re-setting the seat and mirrors he looked for an opening back onto the road. Starting the engine he felt something impact with the side of the van, an explosion drowning out the sound of the vehicle clearing the crash barrier and rolling into the barren plains that ran along each side of the road.

"What the hell hit us?" Melissa screeched as the van came to a stop, driver's side up. Kicking the door open Boomerang crawled up and saw a gunman dressed in military fatigues clutching an automatic rifle standing at the point where the VW had rolled off the road. Ducking down he landed hard on Melissa causing her to violently shove him into the back-seat.

"Somebody but the shields up on this thing." Boomerang yelled, "I knew coming to Texas was a bad idea, we are in the state for five minutes and we already are being shot at." he complained. Not retaliating Melissa listened and heard the sound of a safety being removed before slipping into the back and putting up a sonic shield around the vehicles interior. Just as the bubble closed the shots rang out and the van's chassis melted away as bullets chewed through the metal but thankfully bounced off the sonic shield.

"Looks like Firefight." Abe stated peeking through one of the larger holes in the metal. "One of Count Nefaria's former lackeys and leader of a group of former army veterans known as the Death Squad. If any of the others are in the area then we need to suit up and get somewhere remote to minimize casualties."

"Well we have several thousand square miles of desert to our left." Melissa stated, "A perfect playground to deal with our new friends."

"Agreed." Abe answered, "Everybody grab you're equipment and get ready to run. Chris melt through the roof on my mark, Myers can you throw us some decoys to help cover our withdrawal?" he asked removing a set of recon orbs from a case and handing them to Boomerang.

Firefight stopped firing and tapped his ear-piece, cycling through the channel to one of his men, the bulky Rocket Launcher and the team's heavy artillery. At current Launcher was sitting two clicks away manning an Ultra Light One Man Howitzer, awaiting orders to fire again on the target vehicle.

"Hunter 4 this is Hunter 2 I need some more fire power. Enemy forces have strong defences, too strong for my weapons."

"Hunter 4 here, loading another shot and awaiting you to laze the coordinates." Rocket Launcher replied. Firefight didn't reply he simply flipped the end of his rifle and shinned a beam of light onto the vehicle. "Lock on confirmed." Rocket Launcher announced, "Firing for effect." Firefight watched as the round whooshed past him and contacted with the overturned van in a brilliant explosion. As the smoke cleared it was clear that the shell had hit the vehicle from the hellish red glow of the remaining chassis but other then the numerous bullet holes it appeared intact.

"Hunter 4 we have contact but negative results, hold fire I am heading in." Firefight ordered, "Hunter 5 move up to Overwatch and cover me."

"Roger you're last Hunter 2." a female voice replied. Without even turning around Firefight knew that Smokescreen was in position and slipped over the barrier, switching his rifle to a SPAS-12 Shotgun. Reaching the vehicle he tapped on the shell and felt the ambient heat, almost as if the heat had breached the shield but not the pressure. He know knew what had happened, one of the targets Oxide had melted an escape route, vaulting over the vehicle he saw his targets escaping and opened fire, rounds shredding the withdrawing heros until they fell to the floor.

"All Hunter Units, targets down. Hunter 3 get ready for exfill, Hunter 5 converge on me and help ID the bodies." he ordered as he strode over to the dead Heros. Kicking the first, the female Skylark if his information was correct, he felt something roll under foot. Looking back he saw Smokescreen perching on the van, ready to give cover if he required it. Slowly he bent down and picked up the source of the image, a small orb covered with camera sensors. Wearily he tapped his communicator, "Hunter 3 switch to recon, targets are still active I repeat targets are still active. Pursue but don't engage, Hunter 6 is the 'avenue' prepared" he said looking out to where the plains dropped down into a small gorge.

"Prepared and ready for activation." Hunter 6 answered, "If they enter the kill zone they are not coming out."

Melissa slowly lowered the platform down into the gorge that bisected the seemingly barren plains. The actual divide was twenty meters wide and about fifty deep and the floor was dotted with Mesquite trees. Amazingly the worse injuries anybody had from the ambush was a few bruises, the Death Squad had initially failed but she knew enough about them to know that they were professionals, the hunt was far from over and would only end until their pursuers were captured or her and the rest of the team were all dead.

"Anybody want to fill me in?" Chris asked as he hopped off the platform. "Who are those guys?"

"Mercenaries." Abe replied, "Firefight is the leader with Airborne, Boobytrap, Rocket Launcher and Smokescreen as his backup. I tapped into their communications. for a bit and it looks as if we have a sixth player, Firefight referred to himself as Hunter 2 suggesting that he is playing second fiddle, to who I don't know. For now let's just concentrate in getting far enough away from the road."

Firefight felt the need to salute, something he rarely had down even when he had been in the marines as the armoured figure walked up to where he, Smokescreen and Rocket Launcher were sorting through the contacts of the Highway Patrol's Camper Van. He had been relieved to find it hadn't been booby trapped, finding an IED had been his worst nightmare back during service and it was something that still haunted him to this very day.

"Hunter 2 report." the man wearing a ballistic mask ordered.

"No casualties on either side yet Hunter Lead." Firefight replied, "Hunter 3 and 6 are tracking our targets now."

"When they make contact tell me. I have met 'Skylark' before when I served under Director Osborne. Last time she escaped and that action cost me the respect of my men, I plan to pay her back for that action." Hunter 1 replied removing his mask. Firefight winced as he glimpsed his commander's face, the injuries looked painful, no wonder he kept it covered.

Boomerang kept an eye on the sky, from what Abe had shared one of the guys chasing them could fly and she would no doubt be the vanguard for the Death Squad's attack on the Thunderbolts. He was so engrossed with craning his neck that he missed the warning line of disturbed dirt and put his foot down somewhere he shouldn't have. A slight tick caught his attention and he looked down to see his mistake, slowly he activated his rocket boots and jetted backwards, the release of pressure causing the landmine he had been standing on the leap up and explode. Looking around he saw the entire ground in-front of them had been mined.

"Everybody stop the wankers have set up a little trap for us." he yelled as he got higher above the field. Melissa soared up to join him and put a hand over her mouth before silently cursing to herself. The gorge was a prefect trap, any fleeing targets would hide in the crevice and immediately be blown to bits, the area where they had touched down was clear and that only served to increase the worry she felt, Firefight or whoever was in charge had been counting on them to escape the van and find there way in here.

"Melissa get down." Abe yelled and Melissa dived as missiles and canon fire ripped up towards her and Boomerang as a set of remote AA platforms opened fire. Hitting the ground the pair of them looked round to see they had landed in the mine field. Carefully Melissa created a bridge of sonic energy and clambered aboard as Boomerang leapt on after her. "They knew what we would do." Abe stated as he walked across the safe passage his teammate had created. "They knew how we would react. It's clear that somebody has been studying us and our reactions to danger."

"So this wasn't a random meeting then." Chris stated, "These guys came to kill us."

"I would wager so." Boomerang answered, "These blighters are good, they even knew which car we were in." Melissa nodded before looking at Abe, they were both thinking the same thing, somebody had betrayed them but who the rat was and the people they were reporting too where still mysteries. Their silent conversation was interrupted as one of the mines suddenly shot through the sonic road and exploded. Chris reached out with his powers vaporizing the shrapnel but as he did more mines exploded.

"They must have sonic triggers." Abe yelled as he ran away from their landing zone, "We need to fall back." he added as the others followed him. As they ran the mines were joined by flying darts launched from camera operated stations, the tips melting before they could reach their targets or embedding in sonic shields. Dismounting the sonic road at the end Abe kept running, there were no more mines but now they had to deal with strands of razor wire strung up across the path often with grenades hanging from the strands, the shrapnel bouncing off his armor. Slipping past the last obstacle Abe saw salvation, a uni-bomber style shack, not thinking he dived through the window, glass shattering behind him and fell at the feet of a man dressed in black holding a Desert Eagle.

"Hunter 2 this is Hunter 6, one target in sight all others are absent." the man stated, "Hunter 2 come in. Blast it." Cursing Boobytrap removed Abe's faceplate and trained his pistol at the hero. "I'll figure out what you did to my communications later." he added removing the safety on his pistol. Abe quickly shifted and the bullet missed causing Boobytrap quickly spun round as Abe lashed out, the blow kicking him through a table with a laptop on the top showing former news footage of the Highway Patrol in action. Getting to his feet he watched his opponent remove a knife and jab it upwards into his arm. Grimacing Abe removed the knife and plunged it through the computer, the screen sparking as Boobytrap headed for the door. Picking up a second monitor Abe threw the device at the techno-gremlin's head, the blow knocking him to the floor. Grabbing the smaller man Abe cuffed him before tossing him against a large server unit. Turning his attention to the computer Abe picked up the dropped pistol and shot them before watching the computerized traps shutdown.

"Skylark this is Iridium come in." he yelled.

"This is Skylark, we are somewhere in the wire-field where are you?"

"Boobytrap's shack, target is subdued and I have shut down the remote AA system. Fly on in and we'll see if anybody is hurt as well as talk to our very own POW, find out what they know?"

"Sounds good Iridium." Melissa answered.

High above her Airborne broke off and landed on the far side of the gorge before transmitting data to her teammates. So far everything was going to plan, the shack while appearing to be shelter was the biggest boobytrap of all.

"Yes Sir." Hunter 1 replied, "Current SitRep shows that our targets are at point November Fife. We are about to initiate Phase 2 of the attack, we are expecting casualties from our assault."

Back at FACT's headquarters Lane swivelled on his chair to face the man on the screen. "Are plans are on schedule the Death Squad has engaged the Highway Patrol. As expected the heros have led the mercenaries away from populated areas reinforcing our promise of no casualties. And if our agents get out of control we have nanite standbys ready to subdue them. Before we initiate Phase 2 we would ask for approval from you first Mr. Stark."

The man on the screen stroked his chin before nodding slowly. "You have permission to proceed Lane." the man replied, "Be advised that I am five minutes out from the combat zone just in-case you're safeties fail." Lane smiled before shutting down the screen and switching back to the face of Hunter 1, the burnt skin revealing his metal skeleton covered by a few remnants of the US Flag that he had tattooed over his features.

"Nuke skip Phase 2 head for Phase 3 you're about to have company." Lane growled, "From Iron Man."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #20**

The Death Squad is closing in for the kill. Will the Thunderbolts make it out of the 'kill box' while pinned down by several vicious killers. And who will Iron Man side with and will the Highway Patrol's true identities be revealed? Find out in the next issue of the New Thunderbolts.


	21. Human Prey - Part II

Abe ran his hands over the bumper crop of firearms that had been stored in Boobytrap's shack. The selection of weapons would cause even the most die-hard NRA supporter to swoon in excitement even if the majority were foreign imports. While he wasn't a massive fan of guns Abe found himself removing one of the Tech 9s and swapping the ammo for some 'mercy' rounds, the red dot sight and dethatching the silencer from the barrel, while his suit was so primitive and what gadgets he had were still being repaired the pistol would be a handy substitute when confronted with criminals although the riot control rounds were severely outclassed by the live rounds Firefight and his crew would be firing. From the back of the shack a moan sounded and Abe turned round to see Boomerang giving Boobytrap a swift punch in the gut, the later tied to a chair with some electrical wire in an effort to restrain him.

"Who sent you?" Boomerang yelled.

"My name if Corporal Brian Lee, Serial Number #912744." Boobytrap replied.

"Oh give it up." Boomerang answered, "Cooperate and I will stop punching you."

"Relax Boomer." Melissa stated as she sat cross-legged on the roof, "The guy was a former marine, you won't crack him before the rest of his squad come running so save you're energy for the fight that's coming rather then that losing battle." Boomerang glowered at Boobytrap before spitting on him and stalking to the area of the shack that his prisoner had been using as a latrine. Picking up a bottle he left the cabin cursing under his breath as he searched for somewhere to relieve himself.

"Nice guy." Chris commented as he tapped one of the dead computer screens. "Remind me why we are taking him with us."

"Because he is still in play." Abe replied, "FACT will be after him and we want to know who and what they are up to. That and he is exactly like I was five years ago, if there is a chance for him to reform than I think we should push him towards it."

"Yeah right." Chris muttered, "Because he really wants to be a good guy."

"Quiet." Melissa snapped, "I can here something coming in fast from the South West, the same direction that the road is in." she added dropping down into the shack and closing the access hatch behind her. "Somebody grab Boomer I think their coming."

Boomerang filled the bottle and then threw it down the canyon in frustration that he hadn't got the Thunderbolts very own POW to spill his guts. Turning back to look at the shack he saw that Melissa was missing from the roof, no doubt laughing at his failure with the others. With a snort he activated his rocket boots and hovered above the ground so he could look down on the area around the shack. It seemed quiet our in the gorge save for the sound of wind blowing across the cliffs, blinking in the sun he pulled down the visor he wore and looked back towards the mangled smoking remains of the barbed wire that Chris had melted only to see floating static in that area. Reversing his thrusters he landed and ran to the cabin just as Abe opened the doors, his hand clamped round a pistol.

"We have a problem Boss." Boomer stated, "My visor has been compromised, somehow the wankers are blocking the infer-red setting, probably all the others as well." Abe sighed before toggling his own visor settings before removing his face mask and flipping it over to check the electronics.

"Bugger." he shouted, "Smokescreen must be jamming our electronics. Mel I need you to do an acoustic scan of the entire area ASAP."

Melissa concentrated and felt her powers blossom before ebbing away without even being released. Desperately she attempted to form a basic sphere with her abilities only to see a few blue sparks erupt in-front of her before they died out. "Powers are down too." she screamed back at Abe. "And they are coming I can here Airborne deploying the others fifty meters down the gorge."

"Then grab a weapon." Boomerang replied throwing an R4 Vektor Assault Rifle at her, "Better then fighting bullets with fists and feet." Melissa nodded before checking the ammo, counting each of the mercy rounds before replacing the clip. Chris had also picked up a gun, a multiple shot Grenade Launcher, its revolver reload system filled with riot control rounds. "Better but not by much, Rocket Launcher and Airborne are armoured, mercy and riot control rounds won't do much to them."

"Don't worry about that." Boomer said flicking open a pair of thick ended Boomerangs, "These are designed to take down power armor, it should do the trick, you just worry about the other two." His last few words were drowned out by a massive bang that caused the shack to shake and metal debris to flake off the roof as razor sharp shrapnel. Peering out the window Abe saw Rocket Launcher loading a second mortar into the weapon he set off as Airborne dropped Firefight off at the base of the gorge behind a low wooden fence. The armoured villain quickly flew into position and opened fire with a pair of arm mounted laser cannons, the shots burning holes in the roof with a few penetrating the steel sheeting and scorching holes in the earth. Boomerang smiled as he looked up at his target before removing a Shatterang from his belt and throwing it through the broken window, the thrown projectile soaring round and impacting with Airborne's thruster pack sending her crashing into the roof and jetting off the edge, steel plating falling into the shacks interior and clanging nosily onto the floor.

"One bugger down." Boomerang stated smugly.

"But so is our roof." Melissa yelled as Rocket Launcher fired the round curving up before plummeting into the cabin and exploding, the shockwave flinging the Thunderbolts out of the building. Her ears ringing Melissa looked round to see Firefight advance on the group firing a machine-gun as Rocket Launcher switched over to a pair of shoulder mounted RPGs. Angrily she fired the R4, mercy rounds bouncing off the armoured attackers as Abe staggered to his feet dragging one of the steel plates in-front of him before crouching over Chris, the younger man screaming in pain due to the shrapnel fragment sticking out of his hand. "Skylark cover me, I'm going to try and remotely control Oxide's powers see if I can get him to melt the shrapnel." Abe yelled removing one of the flechettes from his armoured elbow plates and sticking the dart into Chris's other arm. Firing back at Firefight, Melissa heard her rifle click as it ran out of ammo, chucking it away she sprung towards her attacker tackling him to the ground and disconnecting his power pack before being tackled by Airborne, the armoured foe slamming her into the walls of the gorge.

Boomerang swore as he came to, he and Boobytrap had been flung out the other way from the others, and while the villain had been tied down inside he had managed to struggle free and was reaching for a knife. Grabbing a Bladerang Boomer drunkenly walked towards his foe before feeling somebody restrain him from behind. Grunting and thrashing he watched as Boobytrap stepped forward blade ready to gut his former captor, a look of satisfaction etched over his face. Sneering back Myers lifted his feet off the ground letting his captor support his weight and activated his boot-jets, blazing gout of energy washing over Boobytrap and propelling him backwards. At the same time Boomerang shot forward, his captor clinging to him as they darted through the remains of the house and shot out the other side slamming into the ground between Melissa and Airborne, a wave of dust covering the combatants.

Abe watched as liquid metal flowed out of Chris's wound, his powers heating the shard up enough to dislodge it enough for his teammate to remove the shrapnel. With a grunt Oxide cradled his arm and looked up at Abe as Rocket Launcher kneeled down and locked onto the shield. Lashing out Chris kicked Abe in the shins as the missiles were released towards them as Abe and his Ad-Hoc shield collapsed onto him, the blast missing them save for a few pieces of shrapnel that bounced off the Iridium armor. "Thanks for the save." Abe wheezed as he helped Chris up to his feet.

"Don't thank me yet." Chris replied pointing up at where Rocket Launcher was reloading his RPGs. Abe knew that this time the missiles might hit and while his armor provided some protection they had no sure fire way to take down their firer. Looking around he saw Melissa desperately pushing back at Airborne while Firefight reattached his power cable while Boomerang rolled in the muck, locked in hand to hand combat with Smokescreen. Looking back up at Rocket Launcher Abe preyed for a miracle, for anything or anybody to intervene just long enough for his team to escape. His prayers appeared to be answered as a bolt of blue lightning blasted down from the sky cracking the cliff and sending Rocket Launcher and a shower of stones tumbling down the side.

"Sir tactical doctrine suggests we regroup." Airborne told Firefight as she held Melissa in her arms as a human shield.

"Hunter 3 is right." Firefight stated, "All Hunter Units withdraw." he ordered as he clipped a guide line onto Airborne's armor followed by Boobytrap. Rocket Launcher just laid on the floor stunned from the destruction of his perch. Smokescreen ran towards them but before she could reach safety she was struck by a Boomerang, the projectile releasing a heavy net that pinned her to the floor.

"Leave them or we won't make it out at all." Boobytrap yelled at Airborne as the red and gold armoured form of Iron Man descended from the clouds. Airborne looked at her fallen comrades as well as the Highway Patrol and their new ally and gunned it, speeding off as fast as she could, the armoured Avenger pursuing her as Boobytrap released a shower of pellets. Iron Man flew through the projectiles before stalling his Repulsors covered in thick adhesive, crashing down in the gorge as the Death Squad flew up and out of the canyon and back towards the road.

Sprinting over to the crash site the Thunderbolts looked down at the fallen Avenger, his armor systems gunked up by the gel. "Oxide we should be far enough from the interference for you to use you're powers. Melt the gel but only that."

"Got it boss." Oxide replied placing one of his hands on Iron Man's shoulders, heat racing through the armor causing the gel to melt even if the surface was charred by the intense change in temperature.

Chris and Myers sat and watched as Melissa and Abe talked to Tony Stark, the three of them occasionally shooting glances at the pair of them before turning back to talk some more.

"What do you think there saying?" Chris asked.

"Beats me but then I'm not that interested." Boomer replied as he reclined on a rock, "How's the hand kid?"

"It hurts but nothing I won't live through." Chris replied, "Why do you care?"

"No reason." Boomerang replied stretching his arms above his head, "No reason at all."

"And then the Death Squad targeted our van." Melissa told Tony, "That's why we figure that this was an assassination attempt. We also assume that their employer has a way to track us because we didn't see any other smoking vehicles by the side of the road."

"Their employer is the same as yours." Tony told them, "FACT hired them to help convince SHIELD that we needed a new prison especially with the completion of the invasion of Utopia. There are plenty of mutant prisoners that we don't think we could hold at the Raft."

"FACT we should have known." Abe moaned, "Hey guys," he yelled at Boomer and Chris, "FACT sent the Death Squad, raise you're hand if you are surprised by this." Boomerang raised his hand before cocking his head and retracting it. "This is the third time FACT has tried to kill us." Abe added, "Once in Vegas and before that in Burton Canyon."

"You were at Burton Canyon?" Tony asked, "So Songbird and the Beetle are working for FACT."

"No they were targets as well." Melissa corrected him, "FACT sent a virus to the city that sent machinery haywire. Revenant was able to track it back to the Raft and decrypted information contained within. MACH V and his armor was the target, they were assigned to kill us and Melissa Gold before letting the pilot take the fall for the attacks."*

(That's bending the truth a bit. Revenant was the cause of the virus as seen in Persona Non Grata I-III)

"I can't believe that." Tony answered, "Why didn't Gold and Jenkins tell us this before they attacked the New Avengers."

"No idea, maybe they were afraid that you wouldn't give them the benefit of the doubt. Plus you would be sending them into the arms of the assassins who were targeting them." Myers butted in, "Listen if you released the Death Squad then are you also able to call them off and send them home."

"FACT has nanite control." Tony answered, "But we may be able to improvise something by studying Rocket Launcher and Smokescreen." he stated gesturing to the two tied up villains.

"What about the sixth member?" Chris asked, "Firefight was taking orders from somebody in the field."

* * *

Airborne touched down at the Death Squad's staging area, letting her remaining team mates detach before taking off to refuel her suit. Stalking angrily through the makeshift camp Firefight saw Nuke surveying images taken by his team's armor cameras. Slamming his rifle down Firefight watched as the super soldier turned to face him.

"You failed." Nuke snarled at Firefight, "The Highway Patrol still lives and now they are under the protection of Iron Man."

"You never told us he was coming." Firefight replied.

"You didn't need to know."

"Oh I think we did. You don't complete a mission if you have faulty Intel."

Nuke removed his mask to reveal his scarred face, "Are you a patriot?" he asked Firefight.

"As much as the next average Joe." Firefight answered, "I lost members of my team today, I have never had to leave them behind until this mission."

"I understand." Nuke answered coldly.

"You don't." Firefight spat back, "We are done, I am going to bargain for my comrade's release with everything I have and then I'm going to leave." he announced turning his back on Nuke. It was the last thing he did, Nuke reached out and grabbed Firefight by his neck and ripped his head off before kicking the body down the shallow incline to land at Boobytrap's feet.

"Nobody leaves my unit." Nuke snarled, "I will lead the next assault myself and I don't care who they bring, the targets will be destroyed."

Sitting in the canyon, her arms and legs bound Smokescreen heard the gasps of Airborne and Boobytrap as Firefight's body continued to broadcast what had happened to the Death Squad's leader. Glaring at her captors she quickly decided what she had to do.

"Hey Patrolman." she yelled at Boomerang. "I'll tell you everything you want to know if you let me go." Boomerang cocked his head before looking Smokescreen up and down before turning back to where Abe and Tony were comparing armor. "Start talking," he ordered.

"You're suit it's so primitive, it's not even retro." Tony told Abe as he scanned the Iridium armor. "Is there anything in here that is electronic?"

"Mechanical power was more my thing." Abe replied, "My suit is EMP proof except for the visor and filter systems."

"How do you survive I don't see any weapons at all, no shields it's almost as if you decided to be a bullet shield."

"Oh he is." Melissa answered, "Everyone shoots at him, in-fact I shot him once although it was an accident."

"So are you two dating?" Tony asked looking Skylark up and down, fixing on her tattoo before moving onto her breasts.

"Yes." Abe and Melissa both answered. Tony shook his head before going back to Abe's armor. "Does it fly?"

Abe smiled, "Not yet although I was hoping to have a look at Airborne's thrusters, see if I can't work something out."

"Well I would trade up, even Shockwave and the Beetle have better armor then this although you could equip a lot of people with this, I assume that it's easy to repair and maintain. Is it patented?" Tony asked.

"No." Abe replied

"Well trust me patent it." Tony told him as Boomerang walked over dragging Smokescreen with him. "Huh he's a little bit of a caveman."

"Very funny and I thought I was the joker here." Boomerang snorted, "Boss you may want to here this." he told Melissa as he let go of Smokescreen. "The sixth man is a bloke called Nuke."

Melissa put her hand to her mouth, she knew about Nuke all too well, the last time they met he almost executed her and it was only through the heroic actions of Paladin, Ghost and Headsman that she and Natasha Romanov had escaped. "Fine, start talking and make it quick, we don't have much time."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #21**

It's the last onslaught for the Thunderbolts and their new found ally but what exactly will Nuke throw at them. And how many enemies do the Thunderbolts have in their camp now that Iron Man has arrived. Find out next issue as the Human Prey faces their predators for the last time.


	22. Human Prey - Part III

Abe watched as Boomerang clicked his knuckles; it was obvious that the man felt nervous being around Iron Man and for once Myers was bang on the money, if Tony Stark discovered who they were the Death Squad would not be the only enemy hunting them today. The site that Stark had chosen for their own ambush was a gentle slopping hill, the mound of rock the only high ground around for several miles. Smokescreen and Rocket Launcher would be the bait to lure Nuke and his forces in, from what the former had told them about Firefight's execution the Death Squad would be looking for a chance to slink away and abandon Nuke. With this information Abe had come up with a plan, once Nuke was diverted the two hostages would be released; from there it was up to Smokescreen to convince the others to get out ASAP. From what Melissa had told him after eavesdropping on their captives it wouldn't take much.

"Anything on radar?" he yelled up at Melissa as she hovered above the battlefield next to Iron Man.

"Nada, since Smokescreen is effectively working for us I can assume we are not being jammed."

"I just hope that you realize what you arranged with the Death Squad is something that I am not comfortable with." Iron Man stated, "These guys are professional killers, any lives that they take are on you're heads."

"Think of them as the hot-girl you bring to the party to make the hotter babes jealous and want to sleep with you." Boomer snorted, "Of course you can just throw hundreds at them and then they just fall over backwards for you Stark."

"Tell me again why you are here?" Iron Man replied.

"Good question." Chris mumbled, "I'm sure I've asked them that before."

"It's because it ain't a P-A-R-T-Y without me here." Boomerang joked, "Hey just a quick question of my own, can anybody smell kerosene."

Chris sniffed the air before getting to his feet, "He's right it's almost as if a jet exploded around here." he stated before looking over at Rocket Launcher. The man was unusually still and there appeared to be a red dot on his forehead before his cranium exploded. "Shit there here." he yelled as he pushed Smokescreen down to the earth and behind the rock. "Can anybody see them?"

"Negative." Iron Man answered getting some altitude followed by Sky Lark, "No sign of the shooter or any kind of attack."

"This is crazy." Abe yelled, "Smokescreen must be jamming us."

"No this isn't me; my powers only work on electronics." Smokescreen replied straining to break the cable ties wrapped around her arms.

"I'm on it mates." Boomerang stated springing onto the top of the rock and throwing one of his weapons along the path the round had taken. Abe blinked Myers must have attached one of the recon orbs to the projectile because he was suddenly getting the video of spinning ground as the weapon flew across the bullet trajectory before returning to it's thrower.

"Myers you are a genius." Abe stated, "Lark get down here and send a sonic pulse through the ground, from what recon just showed our sniper is buried in the ground." Melissa nodded before slamming down onto the ground next to Rocket Launcher's corpse and sent a wave of sound across the surface of the ground. As she did the earth erupted and a whole cluster of land mines erupted up and detonated in a flash of light blinding the heros.

"They knew we were here." Iron Man announced as he tinted his visor in an attempt to dim the flash, "Boobytrap got here first. Whoa heads up Airborne is inbound." he added as the armoured death squad member opened fire with laser blasts and a pair of shoulder mounted missiles. Firing a set of flares from his armor the missiles flew past and detonated over where Sky Lark was standing, a hail of shrapnel showering her and creating painful gashes across her body.

"Hey Iron Man not all of us have armor." Melissa yelled squinting up at the sound of thrusters above her. From behind her somebody moved and she lashed out sending the shadowy figure falling onto the floor with a thump as a second sniper round rangout, the bullet embedding somewhere behind her. Stumbling she dropped and listened to the fumbling Thunderbolts and was relieved to here that her three teammates were still alive blindly avoiding sniper shots and laser blasts as Airborne thundered past overhead.

Chris rubbed his eyes in an attempt to remove the blur; he had heard the shot but was unaware if Smokescreen was still in the line of fire or if the sniper was targeting one of his friends. Tripping he fell flat onto a prone body and panicked blasting the part he had made contact with and felt something melt between his fingers as the mystery figure wriggled free.

"Thanks for freeing me." a female voice announced, Chris bowed his head, he had accidently let Smokescreen go and while she had promised to help them he always had doubts about more serious criminals using the Thunderbolts for their own ends. Up above he heard thrusters flare and saw a figure firing flashes of light, desperately he reached up and concentrated on the ariel attacker before seeing his target swivel around and fire a rocket at his position. Clumsily he rolled away but knew that the rocket's splash damage would likely do more damage then the actual impact. Blinking he reached out with his powers again hoping to melt enough of the projectile away to reduce the missile's payload but it was too late, the rocket was moving to fast and he was barley able to focus. Dropping down onto the floor he watched as the rocket adjusted its course following his movements before darting off course and landing in the desert. "Get up soldier." Smokescreen's voice ordered, "Those rockets work on an osculating system, next time I might not get a good enough scrambler lock."

"You helped us?" Chris asked as he wobbled to his feet, "Why?"

"Because my guys denied the offer I sent through on a private channel." Smokescreen answered, "I need you and you're comrades to take out Airborne, Boobytrap and Nuke so I can slip away. It's why they killed Rocket Launcher; Nuke must have ordered that all deserters are to be executed. Personally out of all of us only Firefight had real balls but there is no way that I am taking orders from that Cyborg freak."

"I can't see." Chris moaned tripping over Rocket Launcher's corpse. Smokescreen grimaced before running to where Iridium and Skylark had stashed her kit when they though she wasn't looking. Reaching inside her hand closed on a set of grenades arranged on a bandolier, removing the first she flung it up at Airborne, the explosive shattering on her armor and staining it jet black. "There that should help you find the target." she told Oxide before pulling out a flesh coloured ear-piece. "The sniper is a remote gun positioned half a click to the west, operator is 90 degrees to the left hidden in the sand." she added as a red dot snaked over the rock onto her chest.

"Traitors are to be executed." a voice called through the comm. unit. Smokescreen dived to a prone position as the remote operated gun fired the round passing through her shoulder. Jetting to the top of the rock Boomerang threw a pair of weapons at the point that the downed member of the Death Squad had indicated, a few seconds later the projectiles hit home causing Boobytrap to erupt from the sand. Tightening his focus on the sound of falling sand and the smell of sweat Boomerang released a third projectile that slammed into the attacking mercenaries chest causing him to topple over backwards slamming back into the pit he had just emerged from. Slipping off the stone he rubbed his eyes, looking up he saw Airborne being bound by a sonic chain as Iron Man blasted her with his Repulsors, the first couple of shots cracking her thruster pack and sending her whizzing off like a released cork out of a champagne bottle deep into the desert.

"That's two down." Iridium commented, "But where is Nuke."

"Beats me but I'm not willing to leave Airborne and Boobytrap out in the open like we did Smokescreen and Rocket Launcher." Iron Man stated as he dropped down, "I'm patching a priority 3 alert to the local national guard, while SHIELD is occupying Utopia they are responsible for transporting criminals, once there here we will hand over the three prisoners and look for Nuke before his meds run out and he massacres a Chinese Restaurant or something."

"Good idea except I want to keep Smokescreen around." Abe replied, "She decided to help us and I don't feel like sending her back to the Raft just to get slaughtered."

"She will be sent to the Raft no excuses, she has several outstanding charges." Iron Man stated.

"Maybe we could compromise." Melissa said landing between the two. "We are not saying that Smokescreen should go free but she also shouldn't go to the Raft. Maybe sending her to protective custody would be better, if we can get some kind of plea bargain where she gives us more Intel on the Death Squad and FACT for her freedom, albeit under supervision."

"You're a lawyer aren't you?" Iron Man spat, "I'm sure Stark Industries can whip something up" Melissa smiled and brushed her hair, feeling where some of the shrapnel cuts on her forehead, walking away Iron Man focused on the ground and knelt down to pick up a slither of pink hair. Opening a compartment on his armor he placed the hair on a sensor plate as Boomerang and Oxide supported Smokescreen between them back to the rock.

"Scan complete the hair's DNA matches Gold, Melissa Joan AKA Songbird AKA Screaming Mimi. Currently Miss Gold is a member of SHIELD's 20 most wanted individuals alongside her paramour Jenkins, Abner Roland AKA MACH V AKA the Beetle. The pair is wanted for mass homicide, destruction of property, theft, aggravated assault and resisting arrest. They are both considered dangerous although the Federal Advisory Committee to the Thunderbolts has placed a bounty of 500,000$ on each of their heads to be granted on positive identification." The armour's computers chirped.

"Well I don't need the money." Iron Man announced as he fired up his Repulsors and got some altitude on the group of heros, "But at least I can get them off the streets and back to the RAFT where they belong." Locking onto Sky Lark he opened fire with a set of radar guided rockets, the missiles streaking towards the Highway Patrol and detonating in the midst of them, earth and shrapnel flying up around the fallen bodies. Crawling up out of the tomb of sand Melissa looked up to see Iron Man levelling his Repulsors at them.

"What the hell?" she screamed.

"Melissa Gold, Abner Jenkins you are under arrest." Stark bellowed down at them, "Oxide, Fredrick Myers you are under arrest for aiding and abetting known criminals." he added as the other four poked their heads up over the edge of the crater.

"Are you insane?" Abe yelled up at him, "We are not Songbird and the Beetle."

"Nice act but Sky Lark not only has the same powers but also the same DNA." Stark told them, "You are about to pay for you're actions in Burton Canyon." he added firing down at them with his Repulsors, blasts of blue light meeting a hastily erected sonic shield.

"Well this broke down real quickly." Chris hissed, "I blame Boomerang."

"Oh blame you're self." Boomerang snapped back, "We just went up a shit stream and all we have to paddle is our hands."

"We're not out yet." Abe told them, "Smokescreen if we fail you will head back to the Raft and into the arms of FACT. Come with us and we will protect you for as long as we can."

"Maybe I should surrender." Smokescreen replied, "See if Stark is willing to be lenient, maybe if I will get some cash for helping to bring you in." Melissa rolled her eyes before letting a section of the shield above Smokescreen collapse just as Repulsor beam streaked in, the electro-magnetic blast striking Smokescreen and pinning her into the sand. "Or maybe you should help us." Melissa stated as she put the section of shield back up. "If I synch everyone up then we can communicate without speaking." Iron Man fired a few more blasts of his Repulsors before charging up his Uni-Beam. Releasing the blast he waited for the dust to settle only to find his targets were missing although a tunnel charred in the glassy sand suggested that they hadn't gone far. Landing next to the tunnel he scanned the construct, calculating the strength and heat. After calculating a hundred variables he began to take off and selected a tear gas round to be fired from his shoulder launcher and got ready to fire just as a boomerang flew up out of the hole and bounced off his shields.

"You will have to do better then that Myers." he stated as the projectile flew back around towards him before exploding and showering him with ink from the grenade attached to the projectile. Activating the armor cleansing mode from the HUD Stark landed and watched as the Iron Man suit showed a radar picture of the desert and the Thunderbolts fleeing into the distance. Taking off he pursued after them unaware of Melissa pulling herself out of the sand followed by the others.

"How long is that ink good for?" Abe asked Smokescreen as she emerged last from the hole.

"A few minutes." Smokescreen answered, "We should have stayed in the hole."

"No" Abe replied, "We need to immobilize him long enough to escape. Melissa you used that sonic beam thing to erase Luke Cage's memories for a few hours, will it work on Stark inside his armor."

(As seen in Persona Non Grata - Part III)

"It should but we will need to pacify him first, if he struggles I might wipe out everything or even end up lobotomizing him." Melissa answered.

"I'm okay with that." Boomerang snidely hissed. "So now you guys fight the 'good guys' too."

"Don't get used to it Myers." Abe growled, "First we need to get him to land. Myers that sniper rifle Boobytrap was using, find it and target the boot Repulsors until they go offline. From there Smokescreen and I will keep him pinned down with overlapping fields of fire." he added passing Smokescreen his Tech 9 and a clip of mercy rounds. "While we do that Chris will focus on cooling a patch of sand so it becomes sticky. We get Stark in the trap and Mel does her mind mojo on him and we get out of dodge before he remembers what has happened."

"I have a problem." Chris stated causing Boomerang to arc one of his eyebrows. "My powers melt they don't cool."

"Well let's see if you can." Abe told him. "Any other problems?" he asked. No one replied and Abe smiled behind his faceplate. "The Highway Patrol is dead and the Thunderbolts are back, lets show this Avenger why they have always been afraid of us."

Iron Man opened fire with Repulsors and rockets as he chased the fleeing fugitives away from the road into the heart of the Texas wilderness. Suddenly he stopped as the last blobs of ink leaked off his visor to reveal a wild open space with nothing around for miles. Cursing he realized what had happened, thanks to Smokescreen he had been chasing phantom radar constructs away from where the Thunderbolts really where. Silently he added Juno Shepherd to the list of names that he would be arresting for aiding and abetting and turned back towards the Thunderbolts last known position. Personally he was amazed at how gullible everyone had been about the Highway Patrol; the armed forces, local law enforcement and even SHIELD had fallen for Melissa and Abe's bluff; even he had been convinced until he had found Songbird's trade mark pink streaks on the desert floor. He cursed again of course everyone had believed them, Songbird and MACH I had been fooling people for years, had everyone convinced that they were heros while all the while claiming to help the down trodden villain. As far as he knew none of the Thunderbolts had reformed unless they had been double agents or spies like Clint or Natasha. Returning to the spot he had started the chase from Iron Man surveyed the desert only to see that nothing was left of the hole or his targets.

"Come out and surrender Thunderbolts." Iron Man yelled, "You can't run and you can't hide so just make this easy on everybody involved."

"We can't run or hide." a voice echoed, "But we can fight." Tony span round to pin-point the sound only to see the muzzle flash of a rifle glisten among the sand, rounds heading his way leaving blue contrails behind them, the bullets tracking him as he dodged before slamming into his right boot jet. At the other end of the Cheytech Intervention Sniper Rifle Myers punched the air in triumph before loading a new clip while Melissa squatted next to him propelling the bullets with sonic contrails so they hit their evading target. His hands slamming the trigger Melissa watched as Boomerang cheered as he scored a few direct hits, the villain was having fun at taking pot-shots at Iron Man and while Myers was sticking to the plan he wasn't sure if that would have been the case if he had been on his own.

"Abe target is on the deck." Melissa told him as Iron Man collapsed onto the ground, pulling himself up and walking towards Boomerang and herself stiffly, his legs apparently locked up from the fall. Looking around Repulsors charged he fired a few shots at the sand as a stream of particles erupted in-front of him and Abe emerged firing the commandeered Tech 9 at Iron Man, the bullets bouncing off his armor and shields.

"Give it up Jenkins you may as well throw rocks at me." Tony yelled as he returned fire, Repulsor blasts knocking Abe backwards. Behind him a second stream of sand exploded and Smokescreen jumped out and opened fire causing Iron Man to stagger round to face her as Abe got back to his feet and rejoined the attack. Keeping an eye on his shields Tony saw a third sand explosion as Oxide emerged, the unknown Thunderbolt keeping low to the ground his hand brushing the sand. Shutting his eyes and concentrating Chris though about the sand cooling down, making the moisture in the air condense until the ground was saturated and the heavy Iron Man armor began to work against its creator. Concentrating even harder Chris felt as if his body was on fire, as if he was about to erupt into flame as the ground cooled around him. Looking up he saw Abe and Smokescreen keeping up the pressure as Iron Man walked towards him, panicking Chris removed his hand and focused on the Avenger's armor heating up the surface and watching as it slowly sank with every step the sand entombing it turning to glass trapping the suit and its pilot.

"You did it kid." Chris turned round to see Boomerang walking up to him, "Now melt the evidence I don't want to stir up any unwanted memories when they do the full CSI on this." he added handing Chris the rifle as Melissa removed Stark's helmet and bent down to look him in the eye.

"This is for your own good." Melissa announced removing her ID mask and placing her hands either side of his head. As she closed her eyes pink energy coursed from her hands causing Stark's eyes to roll before his head drooped onto the glassed sand he was trapped in. Grabbing Iron Man by the arms Melissa ripped him out and laid him in the shade of the rock before watching as Abe removed a module from his Iridium armor and placed it in a tactical hard case on Iron Man's thigh.

"What's that?" Chris asked as he walked over with Boomerang, the pair dragging a bound and gagged Airborne into position next to Stark.

"Black Box uplink." Abe explained, "It will reveal the truth about Burton Canyon once he finds it. Until he does we are felons and we can assume that FACT knows who we really are now. No more luxuries people, we are now officially no longer heros in the strictest sense of the word."

"So what are we going to do?" Chris asked.

"Melissa and I have a contingency plan. As soon as it's put in action all we have to do is wait." Abe explained, "The Thunderbolts still have some friends out in the big wide world." he added looking west towards the highway and the setting sun, "Until then we just survive."

**Epilogue**

Tony Stark rubbed his head as he sat down in his office in the New York headquarters of Stark International. He couldn't remember a damm thing about the day he just had and even his armor was less then co-operative about the events that had happened. Rubbing his temple he brought up his e-mail and saw that FACT had sent him another message about new prisons. Opening the tab he quickly scanned through it and typed a response agreeing to letting them run the new facility when it was completed. Checking up on the progress in Utopia he yawned, so far the mutants hadn't retaliated and there was no evidence that the Phoenix had arrived yet. Satisfied he sent the message and decided that tonight was a good time to do some armor maintenance, the compromised black box of his suit was a concern to say the least and hopefully he would find what the problem was and fix it.

* * *

Nuke collapsed, his body dehydrated while his mind played tricks on him as phantom Vietcong waltzed past cursing at him in their cruel tongue and poking him with bayonets. Waving his arms in an attempt to fling the nearest away he hit something hard, something real that towered over him, its cruel face glowering down at him.

"Frank Simpson?" a German accented voice asked, "Can you hear me?"

"Give me a red." Nuke ordered reaching at the figure before withdrawing his hand, his skin crawling from the mere touch of the individual as a second and third figure swam into view.

"Yes we will help you but first you must help us." the first voice asked, the purple coloured source striding towards him. "You're squad is captured by the enemy thanks to a traitor. How do you feel about that?"

"Give me a red?" Nuke growled.

"An appropriate answer." the voice replied, "You will have you're 'reds' as long as you serve you're country."

"Who are you?" Nuke snarled getting to his feet only for the third figure to walk forward and place a foot on his back forcing him back down.

"I am General John Watkins also know as Citizen V." the purple figure announced, "I need you to help me free America, the traitors are attempting to destroy everything."

"I will serve you sir." Nuke answered his tone now respectful.

"Good." the voice announced, "Puff Adder help me evac our friend he needs medical attention."

"Give me a Red." Nuke whimpered. Zemo smiled and showed him a blue pill before the first figure helped hold him down as Nuke was force fed the blue tablet, his struggling ceasing as he simply lay down on the sand looking up at his opressers.

"You will get you're reds." Zemo told him as the others released Nuke, his eyes watching the area around his neck crawl. "For now welcome to the Masters of Evil."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #22**

The Thunderbolts are counting down the clock to salvation but survival was never an option. A clash with the Dark Avengers was inevitable but with our heros outgunned and outnumbered will any of them escape a return to the Raft?


	23. Sunset on Liberty - Part I

Robert Umbridge the head of the FACT committee sat across the room from the bent and broken former hero watching him as he flipped through the files that he had brought with him. Umbridge like his visitor had been a former man of action, in this case a serving member of the British Army rather then a US marine but regardless of that both knew that actions spoke louder then words in nearly every theatre of war from down on the front line to back home where the recruiters and war profiteers churned out propaganda to enthuse the civilians to do their part for the brave men and women fighting for them overseas. Umbridge knew that Warden Walker, the former US Agent would not reject his proposal like his colleges within FACT had done, the man valued camaraderie and loyalty just like him.

"So Warden what do you think of the Intel I managed to scrounge up for you." Umbridge asked.

"It is compelling but I will need more to act on." Walker replied, "And I can't authorize any action unless you and the other members of FACT agree that it is the correct course of action."

"That will never happen." Umbridge sighed, "King is a bureaucrat and Lane well he still has dreams of the criminal registration act being repealed, the fact that we keep our operatives identities a secret is down to his intervention. If he had his way then these files would have been destroyed, luckily I was able to save them."

"It would have been a loss of good Intel." Walker stated, "But even though I support the need to apprehend these individuals I am not willing to use the Dark Avengers to do it. The fact that Gold and Jenkins have shared history with Dr. Sophen is troubling enough but add in Barton being Myers replacement and we might end up with severe casualties on both side, personally I would risk it but SHIELD wants all Government supers kept off the front line ready to deal with the Phoenix Five if they become a threat."

"When they become a threat." Umbridge corrected, "The thing about power is that once you have it no one else is allowed it. You admired Norman Osborne from afar, marvelled at what he did. Osborne's failing was he allowed others to have power, he was afraid to take what he had to the next level. Mark my words once the Avengers and X-Men are done with each other they will turn on everyone else and I for one don't like to relinquish the power I have. Do you Mr. Walker?"

"No." Walker answered, "But what does that have to do with the Thunderbolts?"

"Capture them and you prove that you and you're team are powerful. Let you're men know that and when the Avengers come for them they will be ready in spirit as well as body. Prove that you can be a strong leader and they will follow you anywhere, even to the gates of the respected hell dimensions they believe in. Songbird, the Beetle, Boomerang, Smokescreen and the Melter are the first steps you have to take to become the man you want to be." Umbridge told Walker, his eyes fixed on the warden's expression as it went from stoic resilience to moulded joy; Walker had fallen into his trap and would never escape now that he had wormed his way into the former soldier's skull. "So we have an accord?" he asked, his words met by Walker's gung ho smile, Umbridge knew then that his 'victim' agreed and that he had successfully prevented another from obtaining power.

* * *

The blonde haired man carried the two plastic shopping bags down the street before turning off the pavement and heading into the abandoned office block that sat in the middle of Dallas, the building was under refurbishment and the finished rooms were being rented out to travellers and yuppies until it was completed. Ducking inside the man closed the door and fiddled with his belt, his clothes transforming from an AC/DC Concert Shirt and Jeans into a blue armoured jumpsuit and visored helmet. Cracking his knuckles the man removed a pair of boxes filled with wires and components from the bags and headed for the stairwell heading for the loft he and his 'friends' had rented out. Reaching the door he fiddled with the key-pad and walked in as soon as the door was open, placed the boxes on the table and sat down on the sofa the previous tenant had left.

"Boomer." a voice called, "Did you get Abe's parts?"

"Right here darling." Boomerang replied as Melissa appeared in the doorway to the bedroom she shared with Juno, her body clothed in a tank top and jogging shorts, her hair dripping wet suggesting she had just stepped out of the shower. Walking over to the boxes she sifted through the detritus and pulled out one of the circuit boards. "Did you get these from Radio Shack or Wal-Mart?" she asked pursing her lips together.

"Tools are from Wal-Mart, Circuits and that crap are from the Shack." Boomerang told her, "Why do you ask?"

"I told you if you were going to Wal-Mart to pick up an extra carton of milk." Melissa told him, "Can't you remember anything?"

"Well." Boomer stammered before hearing something slam into the wall from the bedroom. Storming out dressed in her combats and grenade bandolier Juno Shepherd AKA Smokescreen pushed past Melissa and grabbed Boomerang by the neck.

"Are you an idiot soldier?" she asked.

"It was only milk." Boomerang replied not making eye contact. "Why is everyone so uppity about it?"

"It wasn't just milk." Juno snarled, "There were two main stories on the news; one was from Lithuania where Colossus managed to convince Zaxx to supply free electricity to several Eastern European stated. The other was that a Latvarian Terror Cell was stopped from blowing up a shopping centre by the Highway Patrol's very own Boomerang."

"Huh and I thought they were Germans." Boomer mused as he avoided Melissa's glare. "Should have figured that they were from Latvaria from the amount of time they said Doom." Melissa snarled before walking over to the third bedroom and knocked on the door until Chris poked his head out of the room.

"Did Boomer get the parts?" he asked, "Abe is talking technology to me and it's driving me insane."

"Oh he did." Melissa told him. "He also exposed us, tell Abe to get that suit in working order because we have to leave now." Chris opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times before withdrawing back into the room as Melissa turned back to look at Boomer. "You'd better hope that the Avengers don't turn up on our doorstep." she warned him before stalking back into her room.

"What was I meant to do let the Doomies blow up loads of people?" he asked. Juno cocked her head and put a finger to her lips before pointing at the door. Boomer listened and heard the sound of quiet conversation outside the door as well and toggled the image transducer on his belt, his street clothes returning. Juno followed suit, her military fatigues changing into sweats and a hoodie before un-holstering her Tech 9 and stalking over to the side of the door. Boomer nodded and walked over and placed his hands on the door handle before wrenching it open to reveal a woman and man both dressed in business suits.

"Good Day sir." the woman chirped, "We are here to discuss our fabulous new line of cleaning products." she announced gesturing to the suitcase the man was holding. "Can we come in?"

"No you can't." Juno hissed as she barged into the door way, "Thank you and goodbye."

"But Ma'am our products are new." the woman stated wedging her foot in the door.

"You're voice is familiar." Boomer announced as Juno wrestled to close the door, "Where have I heard it before?"

"Please we just want to sell you this cleaner." the woman begged as Juno pushed her out of the way and closed the door before slamming the dead-bolt across and turning the key in the lock. "I hate salespeople." she hissed before removing her Tech 9 from the place she had hidden it when she had intervened in the attempted sales pitch.

"Crap." Boomerang swore, "This ain't over."

"They are salespeople." Juno stated, "What is the worst they can…" Before she finished the door vaporized in a blast of light revealing the suited woman standing in the frame, her hands glowing. Spinning around Juno opened fire releasing a trio of shots before the woman blasted her with a blast of light propelling her across the room. Using this brief window Boomerang jumped into the fight slamming his fist into the woman's nose before being punched back, his assailant's blow causing the concrete floor to crack as the woman walked over him followed by her partner.

"Boomer what the hell is all the noise for." Melissa yelled as she stepped out of the door dressed in her 'Sky Lark' Uniform. Looking across the room she saw the blonde woman turn to face her and crack an evil grin. Swearing under her breath Melissa fell back into the room as a burning pulse of light flew past her, the heat scorching the ID Mask of her face and revealing her true features. Getting to her feet she sprinted out the room and reached half way to her attackers before the man opened the case and pulled out an already loaded compound bow. Releasing the bow string the arrow flew towards its target only to be intercepted by a thrown Boomerang as Myers pulled himself up using the wall.

"Mel its Moonstone and Trickshot." he yelled as the later pivoted round and fired a second arrow the slammed through his arm pinning it to the wall. Using the distraction she had been provided Melissa charged and delivered a snap kick to Moonstone's chest before being grabbed by the leg and thrown into the sofa by her former teammate. Strutting over Karla ignited her fist and got ready to slam her fist threw Melissa's chest when the wall adjacent to her crumbled and Abe lumbered into the main room clad in his bulky Iridium Armor, bits of masonry flying everywhere and causing Moonstone to go intangible to prevent from being KO'd by flying brick work.

"You don't look so tough." Trickshot sneered loosing five arrows at once, the lethal projectiles embedding in the armour's outer skin before detonating, the blast charring Abe's breast plate but coming nowhere near to reaching the pilot inside. Retaliating Abe fired up a shoulder mounted laser blaster, the beam of light scything through Trickshot's bow string and burning his left hand. Checking the power level Abe was relieved to see that this new addition wasn't as power hungry as he had predicted, whoever had supplied Goldbug with the weapon had made sure to think about the systems battery life as well as power.

(Sky Lark, Iridium and Oxide confiscated Goldbug's Laser in Road to Redemption - Part I)

"Karla let her go." Abe ordered as he aimed the weapon at Moonstone, a red dot darting about on the fair skinned woman's forehead. Karla turned round and smiled at Abe before putting her hands above her head.

"I don't want Melissa any more." she hissed, "She has no powers without her sonic harness, you on the other hand have some nice kit." she added as her entire body begun to glow. Reaching forward Abe grabbed hold on her hands before his suit's Taser function, the sound of Moonstone screaming filling the room. As the glow faded he saw that the woman in his arms was Melissa, her frame smoking as Trickshot removed a set of throwing knives twirling the blades through his fingers.

"Boomer where's Karla?" Abe asked as he laid Melissa on the floor and swung his head from left to right to see where Moonstone had slipped off to.

"Behind you." Myers screamed causing Abe to turn around just in time to see a blonde woman in red slash towards him, her fingers leaving gashes in the burnt metal plate. Abe responded by kneeing the woman in the stomach sending her reeling as Moonstone came up behind him and slammed her fist into the Iridium armours power-pack causing the suit to stall.

"He did say behind you." Karla replied sweetly as Trickshot walked over to Boomerang and stabbed one of the knives through his shoulder. "That's for being a blabber mouth." the archer told him, "And that's for what happened last time we met." he snarled as he stabbed the second blade into Myers shin.

(Boomerang easily defeated Trickshot in Dark Avengers 182)

"Area is secure." a fourth voice announced from somewhere outside of Boomerang's field of vision. "That's enough Barton." it snapped before Barton was struck by a blast of electricity causing him to convulse backwards spitting and cursing. "Melissa Gold, Abner Jenkins and Fredrick Myers you are all under arrest for acts of terror. You have the right to remain silent but anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…"

"Wait there were four of them." Trickshot interrupted, "Where is the army girl?"

"And you said in briefing that there was a fifth one, the Melter or something." Karla added.

"Looks like the area isn't all that secure." Melissa croaked as she sat upright. "So Walker they gave you new legs and a smart new job holding some convicts leads." she hissed as Walker moved into the apartment, the black and grey version Captain America uniform and shield glowing in the late afternoon sun as it shone through the bay windows. "But you knew this fight wasn't over." Karla shot Walker a look before seeing Melissa spread sonic wings from her back and propel her out of the window, glass shattering as she escaped.

"Sophen get after her." Walker instructed, "Control release Apaec and Ragnarok to join the pursuit. Target is Songbird, she's rabbited and should be considered armed and dangerous." he informed the person on the other end of the comm. link as Moonstone flew through the window after Melissa. Barton, Covington help me extract Jenkins out of the suit before he reboots It." he ordered as he removed his pistol and begun to shoot the leg joints of the Iridium Armor. Trickshot gave Boomerang a sinister smile before walking into the kitchenette and removing a blow torch.

"Once I'm done with Jenkins I might use this on you." he hissed before he got to work on the suit. "Let's see how ugly you are Jenkins, whatever the reason for hiding you're face it's going to be uglier after we are done with it." he told Abe as he brought the blow-torch level with the Thunderbolt's face mask. As he fired up the tool it exploded scorching his other hand and causing him to drop and roll onto the floor screaming in pain. Stepping out of the ruined bedroom Chris emerged his hands blazing causing Walker and Covington to turn their attention away from Abe's armor.

"Surrender Colchiss, make this easy on yourself." Walker commanded, "You're not a bad kid so don't throw you're life away by siding with these felons."

"Detonating a fuel tank is easy." Chris replied focusing his powers causing his hands to blaze even hotter, the ambient heat causing the remaining Dark Avengers to take a few steps back. "Arrows and Knives are a lot harder especially when there embedded in a friend."

"What are you talking about?" Covington snapped, "Make sense you obnoxious child."

"She's talking about this." Boomerang told her as he released a Razorrang, the projectile detonating over Covington and Trickshot and showering them in shrapnel causing the later to dive out the way and pick up a discarded pane of glass. "Try it Hawkeye junior." Boomerang taunted, "Just try it." Barton snarled and threw the pane, the improvised projectile arching through the air and whizzing past Boomerang barley missing his cheek before shattering on the wall behind him.

"Barton deal with the child, Boomerang is merely an inconvenience." Walker snapped as he blocked a blazing punch from Chris, the blow causing his shield to melt where the younger man's strikes impacted with the surface. Trickshot picked up another pane of glass and threw it at Chris the projectile shifting his focus as Walker counter-attacked using his shield to pin the Melter to the floor. Picking up a third pane Trickshot looked up to see another boomerang fly towards him, the reinforced projectile propelling him out the broken window screaming as he fell to the street below.

"You baby it's only three stories." Boomerang chided him reaching for another one of his trademark weapons as US Agent pummelled Chris in the face.

"Hey soldier." Walker heard as something brushed past his face. Looking up he couldn't see the speaker until she rippled into view her fingers covered by a knuckle duster. "Semper Fi basted." Juno told him as she slammed her fist into Walkers eyes before pushing him off of Chris. Staggering backwards his eyes bleeding Walker reached for his pistol before seeing Abe's armor splutter to life; the power system recharged as the Iridium suit marched forwards crushing the gun and his hand in its metal grip.

"So Warden but this is necessary." Abe apologized as he rammed Walker through the wall into Melissa and Juno's bedroom. "Okay everyone we need to leave. Mel swing back round and we'll get the other Dork Avengers off you're tail"

"Roger that." Melissa replied as she banked round the Reunion Tower avoiding the photon blasts and lightning strikes from her pursuers. Darting towards the office apartment she saw Smokescreen perched on the edge of the broken window armed with a grenade launcher, her eyes fixed on Ragnarok as he fired another blast of lightning that snaked across the side of the building after Melissa. Opening fire Juno watched as the grenade detonated between Ragnarok and Ai Apaec, electric energy coursing over the pair and causing the former to fall from the sky slamming into a city bus as he landed, the impact causing his left arm to snap off just above the elbow.

"Give up Moonstone." Abe yelled as Melissa darted over the top of the building before circling back round the bottom back towards her pursuers. "Walker, Trickshot, The Witch and Ragnarok are all down, you and the spider freak are the only ones left." Karla turned to respond but before she could respond a sonic blast caught her from behind propelling her through the gutted apartment and through the door she had blasted open earlier.

"And that's how we deal with persistent sales people in Texas." Juno told Karla as she flew past.

"Well we may as well kiss the deposit goodbye." Boomer lamented as Melissa formed a sonic platform on the edge of the office. "So what now?" he asked as the rest of the Thunderbolts crowded onto the hard sound disc.

"We made the call to Volkner." Abe told him, "He's going to meet us at Fort Worth tomorrow morning. Until then we survive." he added as the platform hovered away from the teams temporary hideout, Ai Apaec swinging behind them. Absent mindedly Abe opened fire with laser cutting through the Moche god's webbing and sending him flailing soundlessly towards the streets. "In any way we can."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #23**

Think that the Dark Avengers was all that FACT would send to hunt down the Thunderbolts? Something a lot deadlier is about to be released back onto the streets, something or someone who has a score to settle with one of the Thunderbolts. Find out who is back in the next issue of New Thunderbolts.


	24. Sunset on Liberty - Part II

Walker winced as he sat in the airplane hanger that FACT had rented to be the base of operations in the Dallas area. He could barley see, his body still occasionally spasamed and his supposedly impervious Vibranium shield had been buckled after it cooled down after the Melter's attacks. All in all he was pissed, his team had been beaten because they had underestimated the Thunderbolts abilities and they had paid dearly for it. Trickshot had come off worst of all; Barney Barton wouldn't be in the field for the next few days and had been flown back to the RAFTs Level 1 trauma centre. Ragnarok had been collected and was currently having his cybernetics replaced and fortified; it would be unlikely if he would be back in commission before the mission was over. Dr. Covington and Ai Apaec had survived mostly intact and Walker was convinced it was due to cowidance and not their impressive regenerative abilities. Moonstone had come round first and had been sent on recon in the vain hope that the Thunderbolts would be stupid enough to walk around in the open in their costumes. Needless to say her attempts turned up nothing and she had returned with a headache and a bad mood.

"Walker we are ready for you." Lane called from the end of the Quinn Jet's Cargo Bay. Stalking over Walker saw what looked like Hand ninjas and AIM agents being led off the plane followed by a phalanx of Guardsmen dragging a large wooden casket on their shoulders.

"What are these people doing here?" Walker growled, "They are some of the most violent criminals and dangerous terrorists in the world."

"They are here to do what you and you're Avengers failed to do." Lane replied. Umbridge put his faith in you and I put my faith in the contents of this casket. Dr. Sophen would you care to inspect the contents to make sure that they are the real deal before I let our associates get to work?" he asked Moonstone as she came to spy on the commotion a half finished bottle of water in her hand. Reluctantly she walked over and wrenched the lid of the coffin up before looking inside.

"It's real but I would advise that you don't even think about doing what you are about to do."

"Thank you Dr. Sophen you're advice is not needed or wanted for this operation." King announced as a pair of AIM agents removed the corpse and put it down on the work bench next to the deactivated Ragnarok.

"I am curious about what you plan to do with that thing." Walker stated, "And why AIM and the Hand are required."

"It's elementary Warden." Lane announced, "AIM is going to fit a remote guidance system and shutdown node into the neural system so we can control the operative by remote. Technically that's all we need but to reactivate his hyper-cognitive abilities we need to revive him, something that is the Hand's speciality."

"I'm sorry but I can't go along with this." Walker told Lane, "I want no part in this butchery and the chaos it will cause."

"Noted, Robert Umbridge also balked at the idea, said that the subject is too dangerous to be brought back to life. If you and Dr. Sophen wish to step out then we will understand, you may as well go back to the Raft Warden this plan can't fail.

* * *

The dazzling red-head stepped into the Chinese Restaurant like she had done so many times before. Once again using her 'Faye' persona Melissa had been dispatched to get food for her teammates, safe in the knowledge that FACT didn't know about the stunt that they had pulled to capture Joystick back in Las Vegas. The restaurant was unusually empty and there was a strange smell, peeking her head around the corner Melissa looked down to sees Chen, the owner, lying on the floor with a penny embedded in his skull. Resisting the urge to vomit, due to the side effects of genetic camouflage use and the gruesome discovery, Melissa scanned Chen's body and saw a second corpse slumped just inside the kitchen, his blood leaking onto the floor. Focusing on the blood lapping on the floor Melissa's eyes widened, the pool wasn't random it was shaped into a glyph. As sirens begun to ring around the city centre Melissa bolted, she had got the killers message and it was her duty to warn her teammates of the impending danger.

(Skylark and Oxide lured Joystick into a trap using the 'Faye Persona' and five hundred dollars in Road to Redemption - Part III)

"Stop wriggling." Juno ordered Boomerang as she dabbed his shoulder wound with an antiseptic wipe. "I said stop wriggling." she snapped slamming his arm down and collapsing on-top of him. Blowing a strand of auburn hair out of her eyes she looked down to see Boomer smiling, a grin that despite the dire situation they were in was infectious. Delicately she dabbed his wounds not that he was immobilized, "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Me and You." Boomerang replied, "You being the nurse and me the sap needing bandaging." he added looking down at his hands now covered in gauze. "I can barley throw anything with these oven mitts on my feelers."

"You want me to kiss them better?" Juno asked.

"It is my fourth most enjoyable dream." Boomerang told her. "The others all involve baseball." Juno rolled her eyes before kissing both his hands and helping him back onto his feet.

"Well soldier you're A-OK to move." she told him, "Don't think anything about what I just did it will never happen again."

"Unless I get another bloody arrow through my hand." Boomerang asked hopefully. Juno cracked another grin and laughed, "Okay but only then." she added walking back towards Chris and Abe, the later leaning on a lump covered in camouflage webbing. Boomerang put his hands together and mouthed 'thank you' up at the sky before joining the others. As he arrived he saw something move in the shadows and reached down for a boomerang, wincing as he grabbed it. Scanning the darkness he heard the fire escape above him creek and activated his jet boots, elevating to the same level as the mystery stalker.

"Okay buddy." he whispered, "Come on out."

"Fine you got me." a voice replied and Moonstone walked out into the dim light casted by the rocket thrusters. "I call a truce. I have some really bad news for all of us."

Abe watched Boomerang crack his knuckles and wish that the Australian marksman would stop it, the very sound was annoying and could hide the sound of the other Dark Avengers creeping up on them as Juno handcuffed Karla, a futile gesture really since the former Thunderbolt could probably split them open and kill all four of them in seconds if she really wanted to. The very fact that she hadn't worried Abe, he knew that Karla never helped anybody unless she was going to get some kind of advantage out of it as well.

"So where is Melissa?" Karla asked.

"Out," Abe replied bluntly, "Now why are you here and being reasonable?" he asked checking the perimeter for more interlopers as he walker around her.

"Chill out Walker and I decided that only one of us should go." Karla told him, "Besides I could already have incapacitated all four of you by now so trust me when I say that the Dark Avengers are not going to come rushing in for round two just yet."

"Then why are you here?" Chris asked. Abe turned and shook his head causing the younger man to step back and cross his arms, an angry scowl on his face.

"She's here about the slayings." Melissa stated as she emerged from the alley causing everyone to jump, "There have been seven in the last hour and a half all done with mundane items and all with the same sigils left behind." Karla looked Melissa up and down before smiling curtly and stretching her manacled hands above her head, the sound of rattling hand cuffs accompanied by the sound of Juno cocking her Tech 9 and aiming it at Moonstone's head.

"Wow Melissa, I see a lot of me in the new you; tall, athletic and ruthless." Karla commented, "The old you would ask me how I'm doing first, make sure that I was okay. Whatever happened to you I both love and despise it but never the less I'm going to play the hero and help you because deep down you know that the Thunderbolts worked best when I was in charge."

"Oh shut you're yap woman." Boomerang moaned, "It was bad enough I had to listen to it for months in that wretched time machine but now that I'm free it's even worse."

"Fine then I won't tell you about FACTs dirty little secret." Karla announced smiling. "Really Melissa keep you're mongrel from barking he makes everything so common."

Snarling with anger Melissa summoned a sonic axe before kicking Moonstone over and holding the blade over her neck. "Start talking Karla because you were right, I've become ruthless and I really want to do this. What's more Abe doesn't look like he's going to stop me."

"I could but why bother when I can get rid of you're backstabbing corpse." Abe commented. Karla laughed and repositioned herself before looking up at Melissa as she kept the axe levelled across her neck.

"Good, that's what you're going to need to beat him, to kill him. The sigils are a lightning bolt centred in some crosshairs am I right?" Karla asked as Melissa nodded, "FACT used AIM tech and Hand magic to bring a corpse back to life and to keep control but it always seemed hinkey to me. The slayings prove that, I'm surprised that you two didn't figure out who was responsible considering the clues he left behind."

"Just tell us already." Chris cried, "All the cryptic stuff is causing me head to hurt."

"Lester is back." Karla announced speaking each word slowly and deliberately. "Well it's been a blast, I expect to see some of you later but not all of you." she added phasing through the handcuffs and taking off leaving the Thunderbolts standing in the back alley, a range of expressions on their faces. Melissa looked around the group Chris looked confused, Abe worried, Juno was unphased but then she was a master at hiding her emotions on the other hand Boomerang looked horrified and was mumbling something about owing Lester money.

"Chris." Abe announced, "I read you're file, you were hired to confirm Bullseye was dead and buried, can you give me a location."

"Small place in the middle of Hells Kitchen, next to some woman called Elektra." Chris replied, "Are you saying that Bullseye is back?"

"If we believe Karla." Melissa butted in, "It makes sense, the unusual projectiles and the anti thunderbolt symbols. He and I had one to many altercations and I won them all, something that made him madder then usual." Looking over she saw Abe pull the camouflage tarpaulin off of his armor and dialled in a number before sighing. "Time to tell the world, that's if they are willing to listen." He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "This is Abner Jenkins AKA MACH V and I have an urgent message to be delivered to Daredevil. We have information suggesting that Bullseye is alive again and is in Dallas. I know that you probably hate us but we are going to try and stop him here, if we fail you can call off the search for us, we won't be in any shape to run anyway. Whatever the case good luck in you're search."

"Answer Machine?" Boomerang asked. Abe nodded before turning to Melissa who stared back at him, her green eyes boring into his skull. For a single moment they could read each other completely, saw that they were thinking the same thing and smiled.

"I'll go and change." Melissa stated before turning the corner to where the few supplies the Thunderbolts had managed to rescue were stored.

Two hours later Melissa sat cross legged on the top of the Belmont Hotel dressed in her old Songbird uniform. She was glad to be back in her original costume, her Skylark get-up was okay but it didn't have the nano under weave or thermal conservation network that Fixer had built into the Thunderbolts first costumes. She had been up on the roof getting a 'feel' for the city, listening for screams of terror and reaching out to the thugs and murders out in the late September night. Most were sloppy and drunker attacks but there was one signal that seemed sharp and skilled, Melissa bit her lip, she had found Bullseye. Silently she called for him, filling his head with instructions and locations, luring him away from his victims. It didn't take her quarry long to arrive and Melissa heard Lester's almost silent footsteps sound behind her.

"I was waiting for you." she announced as he stood behind her. Getting to her feet she looked him in the eyes, the sockets glowing cyan as Lester's jaw clacked open and closed like a broken door, he was obviously trying to speak but couldn't restricted by the forces that animated. "I look upon you and the fear I have is gone." Melissa told him, "All I feel is sorrow, even you don't deserved to be used as a puppet." Bullseye made a guttural wheeze and quickly struck her plunging a knife towards her chest only for his prey to sidestep the blow and elbow him in the face.

"You are broken goods." Melissa commented as Bullseye staggered to his feet and threw another punch which was easily blocked, "To think we were worried about you going after Daredevil." Bullseye twitched, his eye spasaming before it burst blue gel seeping out of the sockets before he back flipped away from Melissa, a trio of knives flying at her. Quickly blocking the attack with a sonic shield Melissa took to the air and scanned the top of the building, in a few seconds Bullseye had disappeared. Listening she heard a swift whoosh and saw the fan blade of an air-conditioning unit fly up towards her, the spinning flail quickly cut through by her sonic sword as Bullseye scooped up a handful of grit and threw it up in the air, the particles bouncing off Melissa's body save for the bits that stuck in her eyes. Blinking as she tried to clear her face Melissa felt something collide with her, knocking her down, the impact followed by a heavy thud and a sharp pain.

"Thank you for that." Bullseye sneered, "Seems like anger can motivate anybody, I'll kill the rest of you're friends just like the voice in my head asked me to but after that I'm going after the blind guy." Listening to his retreating footsteps Melissa rubbed her eyes to see a pair of knives sticking out of her chest, the tips penetrating her lungs causing her breaths to become shallower.

"Abe." she wheezed, "Forget me get to the airport and get out of here." Coughing she knew that Abe and the others were staking out a second rooftop across the city and wouldn't hear her. Blinking she heard footsteps and saw a pair of thigh high biker boots strut into view.

"Wow Melissa you are in a bit of a situation." a familiar voice said.

"Diana?" Melissa coughed, "How?"

"Oh don't worry about that." Diana told her as she squatted down, her long dark hair hiding her face, the surface covered with bulging wires and golden wisps of breath emerging everytime she breathed. "After I've finished you needn't worry about anything ever again." she added as one of her fingers transformed into a needle thin syringe.

Abe checked his armour's chronometer and frowned, Melissa hadn't checked in with him for the last half an hour. He already had a good idea about what had happened but he quickly shunted that thought to the back of his head. It was almost midnight and Bullseye still hadn't arrived to finish what he had started on Thunderbolt Mountain alongside Karla and Mac Gangran. Silently he wished he had been there alongside Melissa, with the two of them together they would have thrown the three traitors so far that they would need passports and airfare to return to the United States. Behind him Boomerang cracked his knuckles and Abe decided he was going to stop Myers from making it a nervous habit. Spinning round he saw a figure dressed in dark blue perched on one of the search lights clutching a pair of chopsticks. Dropping down into the pool of illumination Bullseye staggered forward a lock of pink hair wrapped around one of the utensils he carried, his eyes rotted away leaving vacant hollows set in her decomposed flesh.

"One down." he purred as he flicked the chopstick through his hands getting ready to throw the shaft of wood. "And four to go."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #24**

Things are about to change for the Thunderbolts but before they can make their escape their going to have to escape the Dark Avengers and their allies camped next door to their ride. So get ready for Iridium vs. Bullseye, Melter vs. Moonstone, Boomerang vs. Ai Apaec, Smokescreen vs. US Agent and Songbird vs. Revenant as the Sun sets on Liberty.

* * *

I just want to thank Kraut007 for his review, since you are only a guest I couldn't PM you to thank you in person.

As for Whipcord1989, take you're own advice, google the Thunderbolts and then write back to me, I look forward to your next review.

As always leave you're questions, comments and queries as a PM or a review I look forward to any kind of feedback you leave. Impurest Cheese


	25. Sunset on Liberty - Part III

Abe blinked as Bullseye threw the pair of chopsticks and lifted his arm in an attempt to block the thrown projectiles. One clanged off his armor plating and he foolishly shifted his arm just in time to see the second utensil piece the cybernetic visor across his left eye and embed itself in the face mask, the sharpened tip stuck in his cornea. Not wasting any time Bullseye charged throwing a hail of nuts, bolts and washers at Iridium, the majority ricocheting off the suit, the sound of them striking metal temporarily stunning the pilot as he leapt up and clung onto the shoulders. Clumsily the pilot moved to brush him off but Bullseye was already on the move springing off and releasing a hail of shurikens, the barbed tips embedding in the Iridium armour's control surfaces and stalling the suit.

"It's over." Bullseye sneered as he removed a broken flag post laying on the roof and spinning it around like a baton, "I'll go for the kid next, gut him open and use his entrails to kill the solider girl before stabbing Myers with his own boomerangs." Abe snarled and opened fire with everything he had at his disposal emptying his supply of micro flechettes and anti riot grenades in seconds and overheating the batteries powering his shoulder mounted laser system. Bullseye simply smiled and weaved and dodged through the hail of enemy fire before vaulting onto an air conditioning unit and shot a wicked smile as he looked across the now cluttered roof, his gaze fixing on an undetonated grenade. Springing over to the explosive he flicked the bomb into his hand and tossed it into the air testing its weight as Abe watched helplessly, his HUD displaying that system cool down would be complete in fifty seconds.

"And you loose." Bullseye announced getting ready to make the pitch. Before he could release the grenade a quick burst of gunfire sounded causing the bomb to explode as the remaining Thunderbolts sprinted towards him. Looking down at his hand Bullseye howled in anger, the blast had taken out his hand just above the wrist leaving a charred stump in its place. Angrily he turned to look at his new targets and saw that Smokescreen was the only one with a gun and was the main target. With a well aimed kick he sent a mixture of dropped fixings and flechettes at Juno, the target taking a dart to the leg before ducking behind a piece of machinery. Ducking down Bullseye picked up three more darts before feeling a pain in his neck and seeing his body standing over him as his head rolled across the floor.

"He's a zombie right?" Boomerang asked Abe, "It's okay to kill him."

"Even if he wasn't I'm sure that they would let you off." Abe wheezed as Bullseye's body picked up the head and threw it at Boomerang. Cursing Myers hit the floor as the head flew past heading for Chris, the young mutant throwing his hands up to protect himself, his palms burning as the skull got closer. Spinning around Boomerang threw a Shatterang at the head, the projectile striking the skull and detonating sending it spinning off course and flying over the edge of the building to the street below.

"Die Jenkins." Bullseye snarled as his body sprung to life, grabbed the flag pole and ran towards Iridium. Abe heard the words and a soft chime signifying that his suit was operational again and drew back a fist before slamming it into the undead assassin's chest.

"This is for Mel and everyone else you killed." Abe hissed through gritted teeth, "Next time somebody tries to resurrect you there won't be enough to finish the job." he added as he activated his gauntlet Taser, sparks of electricity arching through Bullseye's body until it incinerated into a cloud of blue smoke, the flagpole and the strand of Melissa's hair falling to the floor. Abe reached up and removed the chopstick, pain biting at his face as he inspected the utensil. He had been lucky; the cybernetic layer had protected him enough to result in a simple scratch of the cornea rather then the impaling of an eye. Tinting the remains of the lens he bent down and picked up the piece of hair as the others walked over, each one avoiding the char mark that had been Bullseye.

"We have to find her." Chris stated.

"No." Abe croaked, "Bullseye doesn't lie about killing somebody and Melissa wouldn't have let him take this if she was alive." he added twirling the hair around the chopstick that had been in his eye. "We have five hours before our contact arrives, we will relocate get some sleep and then head for the airport." he announced blankly, dropping the chopstick and walking away. Following in his wake Juno turned to look at the dropped projectile, bending down to pick it up she looked up at the cloud covered sky, "Prove him wrong." she whispered before slotting the hair in her tactical hard case and sprinting after the others.

The smell of bacon and eggs wafted around the sleeping figure causing her to stir in her bed before she opened her eyes. Rubbing her forehead she looked out the window to see sunlight cresting over the eastern edge of the city. Surprised she reached down to her chest to find two cauterized scars across her chest the only physical evidence of what had occurred last night. Taking a deep breath in she started to cough and splutter, the sheer force of the choking causing dark rings to cloud the edge of her vision.

"Melissa calm down." a commanding voice ordered. Taking another deep breath Melissa closed her eyes and focused before slowing her breathing. Struggling she managed to sit up in bed to see Diana dressed in a purple T-Shirt and chinos standing in the doorway clutching a tray with a full English breakfast served up on the plates. "You need to breathe slowly and deliberately." Diana ordered as she put the tray down and handed Melissa a glass of water. "You barley survived last night, if not for my intervention you would have expired shortly after midnight."

"What happened?" Melissa wheezed as she placed the glass back on the tray.

"I followed an acoustic signal to you're location and arrived just as you're assailant left. Seeing the damage done I anesthetized you and inserted a layer of synthetic lung tissue over the damaged areas, activated the growth accelerators attached to them and removed the knives before cauterizing the entry wounds. After that I brought you here and put you in bed while remotely monitoring you from the other room, you almost expired again just before three but luckily I was able to stabilize you."

Melissa coughed and picked up the fork, ravenously tucking into the food as Diana picked up the coffee she had made, taking a sip as gold vapour emitted from her nostrils, the gas gleaming in the morning sunlight and sending sparks running across the surface. "How did you survive?" Melissa asked Diana between bites of some fried bread.

"You're assumption is incorrect." Diana replied, "I was reactivated and was then sent to shadow you and offer assistance if you were in danger. I can't tell you who but he assures me that he is a friend and an ally against FACT."

"Somebody else knows about them?" Melissa asked, "How did he find out?"

"A cyber terrorist attack," Diana replied, "We discovered that the individuals who represent FACT, Stephanie King, Robert Umbridge and Lance Lane, fabricated their records something that caught my friends eye and peaked his curiosity. For now worry about eating breakfast and finalizing your escape vector, the plane that is arriving from Chicago may not be a viable option since forces from the Raft are occupying a space close to the rendezvous point."

"Then help us get to the plane." Melissa pleaded. Diana shook her head and smiled, "You're costume is on the chair, I modified it to channel sonic energy to an emitter to reduce pulmo-vascular stress. The cell wall should be healed in a few months, when it has go and see a doctor and get the synthetic material removed." Diana ordered, "It might cause health problems." she added before walking out of the door. Struggling to get up Melissa followed her out but there was no sign of Diana save for a whirlpool of golden mist in the middle of the kitchen.

Abe watched as the plain clothes security agent from Volkner Industries sealed the crate containing his Iridium armor. Even though freedom, in the form of a Gulfstream Jet, lay half a kilometre down the runway Abe felt exposed. Melissa's death was making him paranoid and he had been worried from the moment he had to surrender his suit. Turning to face the others he saw that their faces mirrored how he felt. Their contact Seth Volkner was a former criminal just like them and while he had stayed on the straight and narrow it was possible that he might sell them out to save himself. Abe shook his head, Volkner had been a long term supporter of the Thunderbolts and owed the team a debt after he, Songbird, Speed Demon and Radioactive Man had rescued the business man from a vengeful reunion with the Serpent Society.

"Juno is that sensor pack online yet?" Abe eventually said breaking the silence that had settled over the private terminal building.

"It's running." Juno replied, "As soon as we step out we are invisible to electronic surveillance."

"This is our final steps to freedom then." Abe told the others, "I know that we are not the perfect fit, that we have problems with each other but you have all proved you're worth multiple times. As soon as we land you have a choice; stay with the Thunderbolts or run, either way I'll be proud of you."

"Let's just cross the tarmac first." Boomerang added sounding more downbeat then Abe had ever heard Myers sound. "500 meters is a long trek when every beam of sunlight feels like a sniper dot on your neck." Abe nodded and wrapped his hands round the Tech 9, his only defence save his team when outside of his armor. Pushing the door open he started walking towards the plane, the others following him. After a hundred meters he heard the hanger doors on his left creak open and saw a group of people walk out, groaning he recognized them all and kept walking.

"Well looks like Bullseye was a failure." Moonstone announced.

"As Avengers we did the right thing." Walker replied, "The cost to bring that monster back cost too much; twenty civilians are dead because of him."

"Did he actually kill any of the targets?" Dr Covington asked eyeing Ai Apaec as he flexed his muscles menacingly.

"Only Songbird." Karla told her, "I find it amazing that she lasted so long I mean Screaming Mimi was pathetic." Abe stopped; the Dark Avengers hadn't seen them yet and wouldn't intercept them until they were on the plane. Engaging the four super humans was a foolish move but as Karla mentioned Melissa his blood had begun to boil. Cocking his Tech he gestured for the others to continue to the plane before turning towards Karla and her teammates. Silently he stalked up slipping the pistol behind his back and faked a smile as they noticed him.

"Moonstone right." he said cheerfully, "I am a big fan." he added as Karla looked shocked before smiling, "Can you sign something for me?"

"We don't have time for this." Walker told Karla.

"Who do I make it our too?" Karla asked as Abe reached for his pistol.

"Melissa Gold." Abe snarled drawing the gun and firing a pair of shots before being smacked in the face by US Agent. Staggering he saw Karla blast him with a photon blast before slamming her foot into his chest.

"Well Abe this isn't good." Karla purred, "No armor and no precious Thunderbolts to save you."

"I beg to differ." Boomerang yelled as he charged the group followed by Chris and Juno, "Hold on boss the cavalry is coming." he added as Abe slammed his elbow into Karla's knee causing her to hover backwards and let him up. Dodging a follow up blow from US Agent he rolled out of range just as the air bubbled around him, the ambient heat setting Ai Apaec on fire and sending the Spider God into a frenzy, his body morphing into his monstrous true form.

"Boomer you can have this one." Chris whimpered as Moonstone opened fire on him, his body draining the energy out of her Photon Blasts and causing the tarmac at his feet to ignite, dirty great bubbles emerging from the flames that burst on contact releasing sticky strands of tar over the combatants. Angrily Karla dove on Chris screeching like a banshee before slamming a glowing fist into the young man's chin and sending him skidding across the asphalt before landing herself. Scrabbling backwards Chris rested his hands on the tar and ripped two massive semi melted chunks from the runway before throwing them at Karla, his boiling projectiles phasing through her as she went intangible.

"That actually hurt." Karla hissed, "You have potential all you need to do is release it."

"Melissa warned me about you." Chris yelled back, "She told me that you tempt people and then you take control of them until they are nothing but broken shells. She told me about Blackout, Jolt and Penance so you can forget it."

"But my greatest success isn't here." Karla purred her hands glowing menacingly, "I shaped Melissa and she failed. Soon you will see that." she added as she punched Chris in the face, the blow cracking his jaw. Picking him up she threw him against a shuttle bus, the metal chassis melting due to the impact as the passengers onboard started to scream. "Now unleash your power, prove that you are worthy of it."

Walker surveyed Jenkins's cavalry and quickly zeroed in on Juno as she slapped Covington round the face with a riot control baton. With a horse below he charged at her, shield out thrust before knocking her down onto the floor. With a swift kick he knocked her weapon aside before he stepped on her hands, effectively containing her. Looking down he remembered how easily he had thrown his ethics away in the past and how nobody would miss the woman squirming on the floor. Raising his shield he positioned it over her neck, its recently sharpened edge glinting in the dawn as he got ready for the execution.

"This is for the American people." he told her as he closed his eyes.

"And this is just for me." Juno snarled as she kneed him in the groin, the blow softened by the armoured codpiece he wore bust still enough to make his eyes water. Stepping back he saw Juno spring to her feet and throw a pair of grenades onto the floor, the explosives detonating into a mass of glue that wrapped round his feet and arms before sending him plummeting to the floor. Across from them Boomerang was slicing through the webs Apaec shot at him while dodging the fang swipes from the massive abomination. Picking up Walker's shield Juno whistled causing both Apaec and Boomer to turn and look at her. Flinging the shield she heard something behind her snap and felt US Agent's boot impact with her spin, the blow knocking her onto all fours as he got to his feet. Flipping over she had enough time to see Walker throw a punch, his fist cracking a rib and causing her to grunt in pain.

"Never turn you're back on a marine." Walker snarled removing a knife and clutching it as he slammed his boot down on Juno's neck causing her to choke and splutter, "You went and made it personal bitch, for that it might take a while to kill you."

Boomerang jetted up with his boots and caught the shield, spinning round just in timer to face Apaec as he scurried forward slashing with his claws. Even though the blow was blocked the impact was enough to cause Myers to stagger backwards and as he tried to recover a jet of webbing snaked underneath his guard and clogged his left foot sending him falling back to the ground. Getting to his feet he flashed Apaec a daring smile before throwing the shield as the deity's torso, the impact causing Apaec to hiss in anger before attempting to grab the projectile as it snaked back towards Boomer.

"Wonder if the real Spider Man looks like you under his mask?" Boomer asked Apaec, "If so I might do him a favour and donate some money to his plastic surgery fund." he added as he removed a Cryorang. Apaec replied with a blood curling screech and sprung the twenty feet between them in a single bound knocking Boomer down and slashing at the shield in an attempt to remove it and deliver a killer blow. Struggling Myers reached down to his belt and cursed, he was out of weaponry and his arms were beginning to give out due to the weight and aggressiveness of Apaec's attack, in a few seconds he would be overwhelmed and then it would all be over.

Abe fired a few shots at the Witch as she spat venom at him, the toxic spray burning his skin as she avoided the majority of the projectiles, the few that hit not even causing bruises on her exposed flesh. Throwing the weapon away Abe raised his fists and ran at her delivering a blow to the woman's thorax that caused her to screech, the sound making his ears bleed as the young woman picked him up and threw him, his back cracking as he landed on the tarmac. Advancing towards him Covington elongated her fingers and snickered before slashing at him. Wincing Abe suddenly realized that he hadn't felt the blow and looked up to see the Witch encased in pink energy, screaming as she tried to escape. Getting to his feet he saw Melissa hovering over the airport like a pink guardian angel, somehow he couldn't believe it but he didn't care. With a whoop of triumph he punched the air as she landed delicately, her face more beautiful then he had ever seen it before.

"You are an angel you know that right?" he told her as she wrapped her arms around him.

"More like a Revenant." Melissa replied, "Diana patched me up and told me to get here. Looks like she was right about FACT being here." With a low hum she summoned up a sonic scimitar and handed it to him, "Let's do more then survive." she told him, "Let's win this and get out of here." Abe nodded before catching a glimpse of Apaec, with a roar he sprinted towards the Decapitator and slashed through the god's front leg, the attack causing the monster to scream in pain and back up allowing Boomerang to crawl out.

"Good to see the boss back boss." he stated as Melissa fired a wave of sonic daggers at Karla, diverting the photon beams she was firing at Chris else where. "Go help Juno I got the freak." he announced turning to face the limping Apaec. Abe smiled and ran as Apaec spat a web line at Boomer who intercepted with the shield, desperately straining to keep hold. With a cheeky salute Myers wrenched down and released the shield, the tension on the web causing the projectile to spring up before smashing into Apaec's face, the edge smashing his fangs and slicing his cheek open. Staggering the faux Spiderman glowered at Myers with all his eyes before collapsing onto the floor, his humanoid torso bent over the spider face in a sign of defeat.

"If only the real one was so easy." Myers sighed before picking up the dropped Cryorang and scanning the area for his next target. Across the tarmac Melissa and Karla were dog fighting, trading blasts of photonic energy and showers of sonic daggers, each of the combatants evading the others attacks. Despite looking evenly matched Melissa was beginning to tire and would soon be easy prey for her former teammate.

"I heard that Bullseye gutted you Gold." Karla screamed as Melissa dropped to the ground wheezing from the fatigue, "Looks like he was a worse assassin then I thought if he couldn't take down an out of shape bitch like you."

"Lung surgery." Melissa wheezed, "Need a break." Karla rolled her eyes and landed before kicking Melissa in the face, the blow breaking her nose and sending her sprawling onto the tarmac.

"You can rest when you're dead." Karla purred, "It won't take too long I promise." she added as she bent down. Retaliating Melissa lashed out and Karla caught her hand snapping her wrist before picking her up and slamming her face first into the runway. "Don't even try you won't succeed."

"You forgot about me." Chris roared as he incinerated the air, a stream of fire flying towards Karla as she went intangible, the heat wave passing through her harmlessly. Laughing she tried to revert back to her solid state before looking around in horror as her body stayed intangible. Getting to her feet Melissa walked through Karla and looked back at her, Chris's attack had effected her powers somehow, not that she cared Karla had got what she deserved. Looking down the runway she began to limp towards the plane, Chris supporting her over the shoulder as Abe and Juno continued to wrestle with Walker.

"Criminal scum." US Agent snapped, "I am an Avenger you can't contend with me."

"Oh shut up." Abe replied slashing with his scimitar, the former marine dodging the blow as Juno picked up his shield and charged slamming the item into his hand before falling back. Abe looked at her before turning tail as well, Walker in hot pursuit before ducking behind a baggage trolley. Seconds later the flashbangs attached to the Dark Avenger's shield detonated in a shower of light and sound causing Walker to charge into the trolley falling through the baggage and collapsing into a heap of bags and suitcases.

"Nice one." Abe commented as Juno gave Walker a swift kick to keep him down.

"Behind you." she screamed and Abe turned to see the Witch looming above him claws extended ready to make the kill. Shuffling back Abe had enough time to see something fly in from the left and stab into Covington's leg before exploding in a shower of Freon particles that trapped the young woman in a tomb of ice. "Look at that." Boomerang commented, "The Scarlet Witch on Ice. Anybody had a camera so we can document how great we are."

"Maybe next time." Abe told him as Volkner Industries Personnel rushed up to help Chris and Melissa to the plane. "I for one am tired of the Deep South so let's get out of here." he told the others as he turned his back on the defeated Avengers.

* * *

**Epilogue (s)**

Diana emerged in a puff of golden smoke in the submerged base deep in the heart of the Everglades. While a number of her bosses operatives could be present only the one responsible for her resurrection was waiting for her. Smiling she walked up to his desk and hovered above him until he looked up and acknowledged her.

"Baron Zemo the Thunderbolts are safe." she announced as Zemo removed his mask, his scarred face glistening in the lights scattered around the chamber.

"Good the fools out there may want the Thunderbolts dead but I share their concerns on these FACT operatives. They have an agenda that must be uncovered, while my Masters of Evil distract all from my plans you and I will uncover their secrets." Zemo told her. "Now go I need to study the information before we follow our former teammates to Chicago, if I am right then they will be in great danger."

* * *

Umbridge watched as EMTs carried the Dark Avengers to the Quinn Jet sitting on the tarmac. Part of him wanted to pursue the Gulfstream and exact revenge but he knew that these feelings were the hot blooded mammalian part of the brain trying to break free. Like his comrades he used the cold reptilian side far more just as his ancestors had done for centuries. "We failed today." he told the others as they arrived, "The Thunderbolts escaped."

"If you hadn't let you're Avengers expose my operative we would have succeeded." Lane snapped, "Now all he is a malignant spirit that can't touch anything, can't kill, in other words he is useless."

"There is an upside." King piped up, "The technology works and when the time comes we can bring our dead back to avenge themselves by destroying their killers. And while you were one upping each other I contacted our Silent Partner, he is currently heading to Chicago to set up shop. We are far from beaten my brothers, our time is coming and the humans will burn for rejecting us."

* * *

Melissa sat with her head in her hands as Chris and Abe sat on the other side of the table. The Gulfstream that picked them up was high end and fancy, or had been Juno and Myers had already cleared out the bar and were currently engaged in strip travel scrabble in the other compartment.

"Are you sure?" Chris asked, "It defiantly was Diana."

"Yes and No, it was her but she was different, I'm guessing that the damage from her sacrifice isn't a spanner and duct tape job to fix."

(Revenant sacrificed herself to trap the Scorpion Goddess - Curse of the Scorpion Tree - Part IV)

"Then who reactivated her?" Abe asked, "The truck with her body and the remains of Jimenez and his god's orbs was hijacked. Is it possible that they are the same person?" Melissa shrugged and looked out the window at the clouds before turning back to the others.

"Whatever the case finding them is the new prerogative, we need more allies in the fight against FACT especially if they send the Dark Avengers against us again."

"Let's worry about this tomorrow." Abe suggested, "Enjoy the victory we just pulled out of the hat. Maybe we will find some leads from Volkner, fix the armor at his place and get you checked out by a real doctor." Melissa nodded and coughed before kissing Abe on the lips. "To the Thunderbolts, lets prove that we are better then the rest." he whispered as they turned to watch the sun rise over the clouds, the symbol of a new day and a new future.

* * *

**Thunderbolts #25**

The Thunderbolts are in Chicago for a few days R&R. Unfortunately the villainous F5 has a perfect Windy City Welcome for our Heros in the form of a new ice age. As the city freezes over will our Heros burn hot enough to save the day and possibly themselves? Find out in Issue 25 of the New Thunderbolts.


	26. Welcome to the Windy City - Part I

"Where is Laurie?" the balding man asked the man leaning on the camera, "We are on in a few minutes."

"Don't know boss." the cameraman replied swivelling the device to focus on the blonde woman delivering coffee to the newscaster sitting at the desk. "Maybe we could get her to fill in." he stated. The older man watched the girl before giving the camera operator a slap on the back of the head. "What's that for?" the operator moaned as he rubbed the impact point.

"I got you this job Bret in the hopes that you would do something worthwhile with you're life rather then work on that bloody car all day." the older man snapped, "Now shape up before I change my mind."

"Yes dad." Bret whimpered as he focused the camera on the map of Chicago. As he rested his hand he felt the camera grow cold and retracted his fingers as the lens frosted over and the lights sparked before going out plunging the studio into darkness. As the last bulb dimmed the wind arrived knocking over the equipment and sending people flying into the walls and desk, their screams quickly drowned out by the approaching gale. Clinging to the camera Bret watched as the lights turned back on to reveal four individuals standing in front of the weather map all dressed in gaudy costumes.

"Bon Matin Chicago." the man at the front told the few remaining members of the news team and their support staff. "My name is Cyclone and I would like to take a few moments of you're time to discuss and important issue." As he finished the second man rubbed his hands together, sparks running down the wires hanging off his costume and ran across the floor into the cameras causing the devices to turn on and film the unfolding events.

"We are here to ask for donations from the people of Chicago to aid in the completion of our project." Cyclone announced, "Ten million dollars should easily cover our overhead, preferably in non-sequential bills and with no strings attached. Now I know that you may be averse to paying us so we will give you time to think about our offer. An hour should be sufficient, as added motivation my associates will drop the temperature down to zero degrees Celsius. After that if you refuse to pay us the temperature will drop ten degrees per hour until we get paid or the city freezes over."

"You monsters." Bret's dad snarled, "Haven't you got anything better to do?" Cyclone sighed before motioning to the woman dressed in purple and white to move forward. Unholstering one of the batons she carried, she shoved the tip in the man's mouth and twisted the tip releasing a thick grey fog, the noxious fumes causing her victim to choke before collapsing to the floor.

"As you can see we are well armed and won't be bullied into taking a lesser sum." Cyclone addressed the audience, "Take this as a warning Chicago, if anyone else apposes us my organization will make life even more uncomfortable. We await you're response." he added as mist filled the studio before being blown away to reveal the four hostage takers absence. Sobbing Bret walked over to his dad and held his cold dead hands before bowing his head and whispering "Don't worry dad I will make you proud whatever it takes."

* * *

Melissa felt Abe shift next to her and rolled to face him, as per usual he had stolen the covers leaving her body exposed to the cold. Yawning she got to her feet and pulled a dressing gown over the pyjamas she wore before slipping her feet into a set of blue slippers, silently stalking out the room and into the corridor outside. After their flight from Dallas the entire team had met Seth Volkner, the former criminal known as Sidewinder, at his headquarters in Chicago. Volkner had been ecstatic to meet them and his offers at accommodation and support in the Thunderbolts future ventures had been too good to pass up. Three hours after landing he had organized rooms for each of the fugitives in the building he owned as well as new wardrobes with the promise to resupply them ready for departure when they chose to leave. Personally Melissa was happy to stay put; soft beds, good food and relaxation had been hard to find on the road, she had even forgotten about FACT for a while at least until Abe mentioned continuing the hunt last night.

Continuing towards the kitchen located on the same floor Melissa passed past a number of workers all heading for the stairs or lifts, most of them in a hurry to leave and all of them wrapped up warmly. Up ahead was an observation bubble, an area of clarity in a sea of frosted glass that made up the windows of the 'Sidewinder' building, Chicago's newest tower in an ocean of high-rises. Reaching the clear window Melissa found that she wasn't the only person curious about the events, among the security agents and office staff looking out over the city, Melissa caught a glimpse of her teammate Fredrick Myers dressed in a black T-Shirt and jeans among the crowd.

"What the hell is going on?" Melissa asked as she elbowed through the crowd, "Is there a fire or something?"

"Or something." Myers echoed, "It's snowing. I'm no weatherman but I know it's not meant to snow in early October."

"Well this is Chicago." Melissa announced, "It is possible, maybe something to do with global warming."

"If you are naive then yes maybe it is." Myers answered, "Or if you haven't seen the news today. Chris and I have this thing where we rank the hotness of the weathergirls but instead of a cute chick we had Cyclone ransoming the city and murdering some bloke instead."

"Why didn't you wake us up?" Melissa hissed. "How long ago was this broadcasted?"

"Ten minutes ago, at first I thought he was joking but turns out that he was serious, the mercenary is dropping quickly."

"Wake Juno and get to the kitchen." Melissa ordered, "I'll get Abe, I want to see this footage for myself."

The smell of burnt toast wafted over the kitchen as the Thunderbolts crowded around the laptop on the work surface watching as Cyclone made his demands before he and his team flew off leaving a dead body and the threat of even more tragedy in their wake. "It's defiantly Pierre Frisson." Abe muttered, "He used to be a Thunderbolt."

"The guy in orange and blue is Supercharger." Boomerang added, "I served in the Masters of Evil with him for a brief period of time."

(Boomerang, Cyclone and Supercharger served in the Masters of Evil alongside Aqueduct, Bison, Black Mamba, Black Wing, Cardinal, Constrictor, Crimson Cowl, Dragonfly, The Eel, Flying Tiger, Gypsy Moth, Hydroman, Icemaster, Joystick, Klaw, Lodestone, Machinesmith, Man Ape, Man Killer, Quicksand, Scorcher, Shatterfist, Shockwave, Slyde, Sunstroke and Tiger Shark - Thunderbolts #24-25)

"We remember." Melissa said smiling before pausing the feed as the red and white figure moved in for the kill, "The woman looks like Mysteria but I was under the impression that she was dead."

"That's three, the forth guy is Hoarfrost it explains the ice part of the mystery." Abe told the others, "Although Cyclone must have found a way to jack up his powers if he thinks that he can freeze the entire city."

"Thinks?" Chris stated, "Look outside the snow is already lying on the ground, I think we can assume that he managed it."

"This is why you are needed more then ever." Seth announced as he limped into the room, "Most of the people who work here have been told to go home, at current I have found a few volunteers to set up an aid centre at the base of the tower but hopefully you will take those villains out before it becomes too much of a problem."

"Four against five, I would say that the odds are with us." Boomerang announced happily.

"No the odds are against us." Juno corrected as everyone turned to look at her. Dressed in white and grey combats and a hooded coat it was clear that the former army officer was expecting a long winter. "Their powers complement each other quite nicely," she explained, "Also the weather is against us, and I doubt any of you have extensive cold weather survival skills."

"So what do you suggest then?" Abe asked

"A quick strike with each of us separating a single target from the group. Songbird should take Mysteria due to her enhanced hearing; the Melter is an ideal choice to take out Hoarfrost and Iridium's armor can absorb Supercharger's electrical attacks. That leaves me and Boomerang against Cyclone, since we can't easily defeat him we will stall him until you finish with the others."

"And then five on one." Abe finished, "A sound plan but in-case we fail we will need to focus on helping the city until we get another chance."

"I will locate resources that will aid the city in fighting a cold snap and send them to you." Seth croaked as he sat down on a stool, his joints clicking, "I just hope that we don't have to use them."

Abe locked in the co-ordinates into his armor; thanks to the respite as well as Volkner Industries generous donation of funds his suit had taken a major leap towards becoming a suitable replacement to his MACH V suit. Now equipped with thrusters and an energy siphon he could get back into the air and help Melissa maintain air superiority, which would be crucial if he they were going to defeat Cyclone and his thugs.

"Does it have a name?" Melissa asked as she walked into the lab, absent mindedly kicking a spanner out the way.

"Not yet, for now I will stay as Iridium out in the field." Abe replied, "I can't bring myself to call this MACH VI." he added jabbing his finger at the reflected image of his suit, "But at least I can get some altitude, I hate being grounded."

"Are we going to leave or what?" Boomerang yelled as he walked into the room. "Cyclone just sent a drop off request for the money drop. Some place called Belmont on the Chicago L."

"Got it set into the suit's GPS. Juno and Chris are travelling there by foot while we head there by air." Melissa announced, "Abe be careful you haven't tested the suit in the field, if for any reason you are uncomfortable call it in and Boomer or I will cover you."

"Thanks but I feel great in this." Abe replied, "Last one to the rendezvous buys the first round when we finish up." he added as the doors on the lab creaked open revealing a clear path outside, the sky flecked with white as the snow fell furiously onto the building. Stepping off backwards Abe activated the thrusters and jetted into the sky as Melissa and Boomer watched him disappear into the blizzard.

"He's keen." Boomerang mused as Melissa threw herself off the edge before disappearing into the falling snow, a glowing trail of pink energy tinting the snow a brilliant rose. "Maybe it's just me." Myers added as he jumped out after them, his rocket boots propelling him into the descending white haze.

Cyclone spat angrily before cursing in French, the ransom hadn't arrived and while it was possible that it was running late, due to the falling snow, he doubted it. Plunging the city into a mini ice-age wasn't an option he liked but he desperately needed the cash, he owed too many people too much cash to simply quit due to his ethical choices. Checking the count-down timer displayed on his HUD he double tapped the button on his belt watching as it faded from blue to black, the signal for his compatriots to begin the next countdown. "Come on we are leaving." he told the others as he activated his suit, the summoned winds causing the snow to explode outwards as he took off. Looking up he saw something pink flash above him before jerking left to avoid the tumbling missile as it fell feet first into the cleared section of ground he had just taken off from.

"Cyclone surrender like a good Frenchie and we may avoid a beating." the landed missile announced. Cyclone squinted through the snow and chuckled before landing next to the figure, clicking his fingers to signal his team mates to move in.

"Boomerang, you must be here to represent the Maggia." Cyclone stated, "Are you a hit man or a courier."

"Neither mate." Boomerang replied, "I'm with them." he added. Cyclone and the others looked up to see Songbird and Iridium hovering above them. Cyclone turned to face Boomer before firing a blast of wind sheer at him, knocking him into the snow before charging Melissa and Abe. Parting they dropped away letting him fly past, the snow clumping into hail-stones from his suit's centrifugal action before opening fire at Supercharger as he got ready to electrocute their team mate.

"We have you outnumbered." Supercharger buzzed as he absorbed the sonic energy fired at him before releasing it, the blast igniting the snow around him and causing it to fall as a river of steam. Twisting round Melissa saw Hoarfrost advancing on them from behind and summoned up an arm mounted shield before standing back to back with Abe. "Struck by lightning, frozen or asphyxiation." Supercharger offered, "You're choice."

"How about none of the above." a voice rang out from the snow followed by gun-shots. Emerging from the station building Juno slipped a new clip into the Tech 9 and opened fire again, this time aiming at Hoarfrost, the bullets chipping pieces of ice off him until his left arm shattered into hundreds of icy pieces. Racing forward Chris slammed into the icy villains and knocked him off the platform onto the tracks as Cyclone descended once again, his accompanying wind throwing slabs of concrete down at the Thunderbolts as they scattered to avoid the heavy projectiles. Looking down the track Abe watched as Chris was flash frozen by Hoarfrost only to ignite his icy tomb and advance on the villain. Rolling to a standing position he located Supercharger on the other end of the line, his hands sparking as he reached down to touch the train tracks. Springing down after the villain Abe watched as a bolt of electricity hurtled down the rails towards him, activating his armour's siphon he reached out and drained the energy, the resulting shock recharging his Taser and motor systems.

"Well we know that works." Abe announced, "Let's see about this." he stated as he removed a pistol with a glass chamber on the end. Pulling the trigger the chamber begun to glow red before firing a beam of focused sound at Supercharger, the blast causing his suit to discharge a massive amount of energy before the user collapsed to his knees. "Low frequency Maser*," Abe told him, "By feeding the energy to you're suit it caused it to overload and short out." Snarling as he got to his feet Supercharger ran at Abe slamming his fist into the Iridium armor before recoiling and holding his hand in agony. Behind his face plate Abe smiled before punching the de-powered villain back, his own blow knocking the thug down to the ground.

(Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation - Impurest 'Ain't Acronyms Cool' Cheese)

Chris waded through the blasts of ice and thrown icicles that Hoarfrost was sending his way. To give the villain some credit he was holding his ground despite his attacks being completely ineffective against his opponent. Reaching his target Chris slammed a fist into the icy fiends remaining shoulder and channelled a blast of heat down the limb causing it to drip onto the floor, effectively disarming the felon.

"Give up." Chris announced, "I don't want to hurt you but if I have to I will go further." Hoarfrost took a deep breath and then exhaled, his breath freezing the air around Oxide enough to chill the outer layer of his suit. With a sigh of his own Chris slammed his other fist into Hoarfrost's chest and opened his palm, a vivid red glow spreading through the villain's chest as his body begun to melt into a pool of blue gel, with only a head still intact.

"You can't defeat the F5." Hoarfrost's head yelled as Chris picked up the cranium and placed it on a box. "This city will freeze."

"What are you going to do?" Chris asked, "You're a head."

Melissa felt Cyclone fly past as she landed on the top of the station building, the jet stream pushing her across the roof. As the wind died down she saw Mysteria scale the side and elegantly flip onto the edge of the building, her long blonde hair trailing behind her, followed by a tide of mist that eddied along the roof tops. Closing her eyes Melissa kneeled down and took long deep breaths, almost immediately her lungs begun to burn but fighting the urge to panic she stayed still and listened for the footsteps, the noise amplified by the mist. Swiftly she extended her hand and caught the 'mist-stick' that Mysteria had swung at her before sending a sonic pulse along the shaft causing the baton to shatter. Taking another deep breath she raised from her position, elbow outstretched and met the kick her opponent had thrown at her before extending her arm and flipping Mysteria over her shoulder.

"You are skilled in fighting blind." Mysteria hissed, "Not surprising since you have always hunted by sound."

"And you cloud people's vision." Melissa replied as she summoned a sonic filter over her face. "We would have made a good team but it's too late now. That man at the TV studio didn't deserve to die."

"Cyclone my give the orders." Mysteria purred as the mist swirled around her. "But I have my own agenda. First step is you burning" she screeched as she twisted the mist stick, the tip sparking orange before igniting the mist in a burning haze. Almost immediately the heated air rushed through the filter and Melissa started to wheeze. Desperately she focused her powers and summoned a sphere of thick sonic energy, her powers sapping every sound in the area to contain the mist until it collapsed in on itself, releasing wisps of harmless pink smoke.

"My voice can cut through any fog." Melissa croaked. Mysteria snarled and ran at her ready to swing her baton in a downwards thrust at her targets head. With a single move Melissa slammed her palm through the baton and into Mysteria's hand, shockwaves bouncing along the villainess's body and sending her convulsing off the edge of the building and onto the platform below.

Boomerang jetted around the building and threw a projectile at Cyclone, the French super criminal easily blowing the boomerang off course. Taking off again Boomer narrowly dodge a gust of wind thrown at him as Cyclone spun round after him. "Hey Smoky a little help here." he yelled at Juno as she huddled down in the station building.

"Keep him busy a little while longer." Juno replied as she tapped a tablet attached to her wrist.

"Because that's easy." Boomer moaned as he shot above a hail of rubbish blown at him. As he got ready to shift position a vertical sheer caught him and he shot up, his body revolving rapidly until he stopped ascending. Levitating to the same height Cyclone flipped him over so his head was pointing down before stopping the wind enough so that Myers could look him in the eyes.

"La plunge." he said smirking before letting Boomerang drop to the floor, the blow causing Myers to yell in pain, although his helmet had reduced the impact his nose was bleeding and he was feeling queasy. Returning to ground level Cyclone activated his suit again and focused his ability on Myers planning to rise him up again and drop him from a greater altitude. The wind began to whip up before dying mysteriously as he dropped the nine feet to the platform.

"Boomer I wormed into his suit." Juno yelled, "His armor is rebooting so hit him now." Boomerang coughed and threw a Reflexarang, the projectile arching past Cyclone as his suit powered up. Chuckling Cyclone advanced on Myers as the thrown rang was caught by the wind arching round and slamming into the villain's neck. The blow caused Cyclone to stagger before the suit went into overdrive propelling the villain backwards across the rails into a parked train, the impact off-lining the armor and leaving the user locked in his own suit.

"I feel sick." Myers moaned, "Couldn't you have done that faster."

"It had complex firewalls and command codes in French, a language I don't speak." Juno replied sheepishly, "If it had been Spanish or Mandarin then it would have been a lot quicker 'Rick'."

"Looks like you're buying that round Mel." Abe announced, "Once we get Boomer checked for a concussion of course."

"If we stopped them then why is the weather getting worse?" Chris asked as he pointed up at the increasing snow fall and flashes of lightning.

"Even with our powers combined and wind, cloud, lightning and snow working together we couldn't muster a perfect storm." Cyclone stated as his suit rebooted and he took to the air, "So we found somebody who could." he added as a dark haired woman wearing a leotard and ballet shoes landed delicately at the middle of the station. Almost immediately the temperature dropped and Melissa threw up a sonic shield only to see it shatter under the weight of the ice forming over the surface.

"Crap control surfaces on the left thruster gamble have frozen over." Abe yelled as Juno and Myers opened fire only to see their projectile freeze in mid flight.

"You have made this city's suffering ten times worse." Cyclone bellowed as he swept up Supercharger, Mysteria and Hoarfrost's head. "The people will suffer because of you, and when they turn we will finish the job. Farewell and enjoy you're defeat, this is just the beginning." he hissed before flying off with the rest of F5.

"Who was that chic?" Boomerang asked as he cracked his knuckles in a vain attempt to warm them up.

"An unknown for now." Melissa answered, "Seth we failed spread the word that we are offering anybody who helps us save the city amnesty. For now all we can do is help the Populus survive, we will get another chance to take down Cyclone and his gang."

"And next time it will be personal." Abe added as Chris melted the ice that had formed on his wing. "Seth just forwarded our next priorities; Mel go and help the ambulances get people to hospital, Chris you're on road clearing duty while Boomer and I fly supplies to aid posts."

"And me?" Juno asked, "What am I doing?"

"Get back to the tower and figure out who are mystery woman is." Abe ordered, "We may have lost the battle but the war doesn't end until the snow thaws."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #26**

As the city plunges into a freezing night the Thunderbolts are about to be joined by some unlikely heros. Will this additional man power help defeat F5 or is the city about to enter a winter of discontent as the Thunderbolts 'Welcome to the Windy City' gets decidedly chilly.


	27. Welcome to the Windy City - Part II

The ambulance ground to a halt as the driver ploughed into the snow drift on the crossroads between Eerie and State Street, their destination of North Western University Hospital completely blocked off by the early winter. Angrily the driver, an imposing man who towered over nearly everyone he met slammed his hands down onto the steering wheel, his partner a short woman even among normal company looked into the back to check on the EMTs and the patient, the later wrapped in a nest of reflective blankets.

"What's going on Toby?" one of the paramedics asked, "Why have we stopped?"

"We've hit a snow bank," Toby replied as the larger man slid out of the ambulance, "Cody just went outside to see if we can get out."

"Well he should hurry, even with the protective blankets we are going to loose this patient in a few minutes." the EMT replied. Nodding Toby opened the other door and dropped out, her feet sinking up to her knees into the snow. The sky was mostly dark save for occasional flashes of lighting and a few burning buildings wrapped in grey fog. The city looked like the end of the world and she suddenly realised that there was nothing they could do; they were insignificant compared to the powers that held the city in its icy grip.

"Toby I'm sorry." Cody announced as he walked over, "I'm going to put the suit on."

"Don't you fucking dare?" Toby spat not looking at her comrade, "That thing takes over, every time you pull that hood over you're head no matter what you do people die."

"People are already dying." Cody said putting a massive hand on her shoulder, "Besides I can fly people to the hospitals a lot faster then we can drive them. I know that you hate this but in my heart I know that this is the right thing to do. My brother never was very heroic but he had the stones to stick with the bad things and try and redeem himself at least that was what I was told."

"If they see you then they will try and kill you." Toby replied, "And it's not just the Maggia, the police, the National Guard all want to bring the Headhunter Vigilante to justice, you are a good man Cody but when you put that suit on you become a monster."

"That's what it's going to take to save the city." Cody replied quietly as he bent down and kissed Toby on the lips, "I love you but I have to go." he added as he walked away from the ambulance into the snow. Climbing back into the ambulance Toby sat in the drivers seat and punched the window before turning back to check on the patient. Whether or not they survived the night was now in Cody's hands, silently she preyed he would be safe and that today he wouldn't be the villain but rather become the hero he dreamed of being.

* * *

Cao Thi Cat stirred in the filthy apartment that she rented from the obese Maggia stooge who opened the building. Something was different today, it was warmer then it had been for a while. Pulling an old T-Shirt on as well as a pair of jeans she looked out the window to see falling snow, defiantly what she was expecting. Rubbing her arm she wandered to the door and collapsed into a pile of sand before slithering under the door reconstituting on the other side before regaining her human appearance. Before she was even fully reformed she felt the increased heat on her grainy skin and could hear the flames crackle. Calmly she headed for the stairs, the flames held no fear for her but she wasn't fond of the water that the Chicago Fire Department would be bringing to quell the growing inferno.

"Help me." a weak voice cried, Cat turned and looked down the hallway, she was sure she had heard something. Walking back towards the flames she heard the small cry again, somebody was still trapped in the building, a child judging from the pitch. Whoever it was, it didn't matter to her and she was getting out of here before she was caught and arrested.

"Please somebody help me." the unseen child whimpered. Cat stopped and retracted her face before reforming it on the back of her head. She still didn't care but she couldn't stand by and let an innocent child die despite her misanthropic disposition. Shifting her body to realign with her face she ran her hand across the wall using the structure to locate her target before morphing her hand into a solid sand hammer and smashing the wall open. Walking through the dust she saw a little girl huddled under the table clutching a book.

"Come here." Cat snapped, "We have to go." The child shook her head, it was obvious she was afraid and threats were not going to get her to budge. Sighing Cat breathed out a stream of golden sand before cutting through the flames between her and the little girl, parts of her body collapsing and extinguishing the barrier. "Please come here." Cat asked through gritted teeth, "The fire is getting out of control."

"Is my mommy safe?" the little girl asked.

"Yeah sure whatever now let's go." Cat told her, extending her arm and grabbing the little girl by the scruff of the neck. With a deep breath she leapt from the fifth story window desperately resisting the urge to let her body collapse into sand, with a thud she hit the pavement on her back, the little girl safe in a sediment cocoon as onlookers came rushing to the aid of the rescuer. Groaning Cat pushed the girl off her and got to her feet; despite being unharmed the fall had left her stiff, possibly due to landing on the cold pavement.

"Oh my god Mia." a woman squeaked rushing over to Cat and her charge, "Mia are you okay?"

"Mommy." Mia yelled as she ran into the woman's arms.

"Thank you for saving my daughter." a balding man said as he followed the woman out of the crowd. "It's good to know there are some Heros left in this city. We sure could use them now that the super villains have moved in."

"I'll see what I can do." Cat said as she shifted into a standing position, feeling the cold wind blow through her. As she disassembled into a pile of sand she found herself surprised at what had happened, for the first time for a while she was being sincere. Today was indeed different; today she would save people rather then destroy them.

* * *

The church was lit by candle-light with a pair of heaters adding a dim red glow to the area around the alter. People had come here preying that God would spare them from the cold winter that had befallen them, some even considered Cyclone and his team to be demons sent to test their faith. Already their was some talk about purging Chicago of non believers but the majority of the congregation had decided to maintain some sense and had quickly turned their backs on such hate mongers. Most were stunned at how quiet it was down on the streets, most roads were flooded with snow and the few that weren't had been blocked by escaping residents, their progress blocked by sheer walls of ice around the city perimeter. At the back a door creaked open and the wind momentarily swept in before being quelled by the thick oak doors being shut again.

Walking to the new arrivals the reverend looked up and down the aisles at the huddled masses. The pews were full and they were running out of room elsewhere, despite that he knew it was his duty to help the unfortunate. "Welcome my friends, is there anything you need?" he said warmly. The men who arrived didn't move save the one at the front who levelled a gun at the padre's head.

"We're here to take donations for the save Chicago fund." the man snarled, "Notes, change and anything we can pawn it all goes in the sacks that my buddies are carrying."

"Please put that away." the Padre said, "And think about what you are doing,"

"I am," the leader replied, "My little girl is freezing and the city is doing F all. I am not going to let some freaks in capes kill my family so I'm doing what the government should be doing, paying the basterds off."

"And you think that will make them stop?" the padre asked, "Have faith and salvation will come."

"Shut the fuck up." the looter screamed clicking the safety off, "One more word and you die."

"He is only doing his job." a voice echoed from the roof. Fearfully the looters swung their weapons around, covering the area in the hopes that the divine voice was simply a trick. With a series of thuds a figure leapt to the floor before standing in front of the Padre, the muzzle of the head looter's pistol resting on his temple. Looking the guardian angel up and down, taking in the black suit with white spiders on the front the man squeezed the trigger only to feel the gun being ripped out of his hands in the time it took to blink. Fearfully he backed away from the black suited figure as his men dropped their weapons and ran for the streets. With a swift punch the man in black caught the leader and removed a scrappy piece of paper from his pocket. "The Sidewinder Building." he read before dropping the paper on the floor, "Finally I will end this." he muttered as he walked to the door.

"What do you plan to end?" the padre asked causing the man to stop.

"The madness." the 'avenging angel' replied as he reached the door and slipped out into the frozen streets, "This city needs to be taught that criminals no matter how big or small are not welcome."

* * *

Abe landed in a field of thick snow his thrusters melting a patch for him and his passenger to stand on. All around him the shape of vehicles immobilized by the thaw loomed out of the fog, their operators huddled around a brazier at the foot of the mound of salt, its flanks sparkling under a thin coating of slushy snow. Looking across at Chris, Abe gave a nod and the younger man waded over to the closest truck and placed his hand on the snow as his powers melted the covering revealing the frozen snow plough underneath.

"Good work, hopefully it should be ready to go." Abe commented, "Free the other ploughs and gritters while I talk to the drivers."

"On it." Chris replied scorching a path to the next vehicle. Abe turned and stomped through the snow to the brazier, the fire barley having an impact on the freezing fog around it. The drivers turned to stare at him before watching the rapidly growing number of freed vehicles, snow dripping down their chassis.

"This city needs you." Abe told them, "Start by freeing the roads from the aid stations to the hospitals and universities so the ambulances can move freely, all over roads are not important until the situation changes." The men looked at their feet before turning back to the brazier choosing to ignore Abe's words.

"You heard the man in the flying suit." a rotund black man swathed in a thick coat above his overalls. "Get to you're trucks." The drivers looked at the new speaker before hurrying off to vehicles crawling into the cabs and revving the engine and flooding the area with sound.

"Thank you." Abe told the larger man, "We need everybody if we're going to save the city."

"No problem, without you and you're friend we would have to use shovels and old fashioned elbow grease. The thing is they know that once they go out they are going to get hit by the freaks that blocked the roads in the first place." the man announced, "I'm Winston by the way, never met one of you costumed crime fighters or whatever you are."

"A concerned citizen that's all." Abe replied, "I know it's a risk but without them more people will die."

"I hear you still it would be nice for them to have some cover." Winston stated.

"The Illinois National Guard is going to meet up with us three blocks from here; we freed a column of Stryker APCs armed with AA guns to keep the villains at bay. For the moment they seem content to watch, hopefully they'll stay that way." Abe told him, "The salt, could it be deployed by air?"

"Sure but you don't look like you have a lot of room in there." Winston replied, "Have a look anyway though." he added as Chris freed the last snow plough, "I've got to get moving my ride just reappeared." Abe nodded and walked over to the pile of salt past the queue of gritting lorries waiting to be filled. Running his hand across the surface he saw a few grains run down the side before scooping out a handful salt before letting it trickle through his fingers. As the last piece hit the pile it shuddered before spiralling upwards, the breeze making it revolve around the apex before settling into a humanoid shape.

"Quicksand," Abe snarled drawing the MASER pistol from its armoured holster, "I have enough problems to deal with today get out the way or be blasted and spread across the city, you're choice."

"Hold you're fire Cowboy." Quicksand buzzed, "I'm here to help. For some reason I feel benevolent today, I've already but some fires out downtown and then I saw an Iron Man wannabe heading this way so I followed you."

"You want to help." Abe said, "What's the catch?"

"None, I don't do cold and I don't fancy being an ice sculpture so it's in my best interest to help." Quicksand announced flowing down the side of the pile and wrapping an arm around Abe, "I can move that entire pile in two trips maybe even less and I am willing to lend a hand when you beat the people responsible for all this snow."

"And after the thaw sets in?" Abe asked not lowering the MASER.

"Don't know depends on how grateful you are." Quicksand hissed as she phased into the heap of salt before reappearing at the summit, "Last time you let me go MACHy Beetle."

(Quicksand was part of the Thunderbolts Army in Zemo's campaign against the grand master - As seen in Thunderbolts# 104 - 107)

"Fine but the first time you step out of line I make sure you stay in the cooler." Abe told her, throwing an ear-piece into the pile. Tapping his own helmet mounted version he waited for the static to clear before relaying what had happened. "Mel you won't believe what has just happened, I ran into Quicksand at the gritting depot."

"Is she working for Cyclone?" Melissa asked as she lowered an ambulance on a sonic platform outside the hospital.

"No she's working for us." Abe replied, "Apparently she grew a conscience or something. Whatever the case she's helping me keep the roads open so don't fire on her or we loose a powerful ally."

"Got it." Melissa answered, "Hang on I've got Myers on the other line. What is it Boomer?"

"I think I just saw a hairy guy with an axe fly past on a glider thing." Boomerang relayed, "I was delivering a generator to the aid station at the Aquarium when he glided past carrying a woman in a blanket. He's heading you're way so I thought you might like a heads up."

"I'll check it out." Melissa sighed before taking to the air again. Visibility was poor but as Mysteria had said earlier that day she had never needed to look for her prey, her hearing was a lot more acuter then that of a normal human and in a city almost devoid of human noise the sound of glider engines was easy to pinpoint. Hanging back she watched as the man dressed in green and purple flew past hanging onto his hostage. Melissa couldn't believe what she way seeing the man was dressed like the Headsman, a minor Spiderman enemy and former Thunderbolt. She quickly shook that notion, Cleavon Twain was dead, killed somewhat accidently by his team-mate back when Osborne was running HAMMER. Staying on the man's tail Melissa watched as he swung the glider down and landed it outside the aid station in the Tribune building before unhooking from his rig and carrying her inside. Landing Melissa waited three cold minutes before he emerged, the giant easily dwarfing her as he headed back to his glider.

"I saw what you just did." Melissa announced as the man reached for his axe, "How you carried that lady to safety. What I want to know is why you are dressed like a dead man."

"You're talking about my brother." the Headsman snarled, "He left me his gear after he died, I tried to find a use for it, turns out it takes a freak blizzard for me to suit up."

"So you just decided to fly people around the city while carrying an axe?" Melissa asked, "I'm a little sceptical that you're really a Good Samaritan."

"I have some problems with a few priors, mainly some business with the Maggia. They were pushing people around so I pushed back if you really want to know, and please call me Vassal; Headsman was my brother's thing." Vassal answered, "Back in Feudal Europe pacts were made between lords and mercenary knights or vassals. I want to make a deal; I'll do what you want if after this is done you protect me from any Maggia retribution. I heard of you Songbird, my brother saved you're life so you owe him and be extension me."

(Headsman, Paladin and Ghost saved Songbird and Black Widow from being executed in Thunderbolts #136)

"Only the Maggia." Melissa warned, "I won't fight the cops for you."

"I don't expect you to." Vassal answered as Melissa levitated an ear-piece to him. "You're orders Maam."

"Keep doing what you're doing." Melissa ordered, "Save as many people as you can. As soon as we need you we'll let you know." Vassal nodded before gunning the glider's engine and taking to the sky. Melissa watched the exhaust trail before tapping her own ear piece. "About that hairy guy on the glider…"

Juno typed in a second set of parameters; coupled with the high security level on the files she was trying to access the temporary fuel stored in the building wouldn't last for much longer. Despite this she didn't curse when yet another firewall popped up to block her progress. Flexing her fingers she began to hack into her old military account which hopefully was still active. Seconds later she was into the system, the comparison images taken from Abe's flight recorder scrolling against a list of citizens with the ability to control weather. The list was mercifully short and the search even shorter as facial recognition brought up an image of Anzhela Federova, a former Russian Ballerina, who had gone by the handle Bora before she had been stripped of her powers in the M-Day disaster. Juno smiled, with her information hunting over she could now focus on getting out of the 'office' and directly helping the freezing populous of Chicago. As she printed out the data a gunshot rang out from the aid centre along the corridor, the blast accompanied by raised voices. Springing to action Juno unholstered her pistol and activated her suits active camouflage module and crept down the hall and up to a window overlooking the aid post. Scattered around the room where six gun totting thugs, all armed with assault weapons and machine pistols whilst another three clutched sacks.

"Abe we have a problem back at base." Juno whispered as she headed downstairs, "Nine hostiles, six armed. Get here as soon as you can, I'm going to try and even the odds a bit."

"Wait for backup." Abe replied as Juno turned off the comm. link and opened the door a fraction. One of the thugs, a tall woman holding a cut down MP5 noticed and slunk over causing Juno to retreat to an excellent ambush position. Slowly the thug opened the door and entered the corridor, warily surveying the room but never bothering to look up until sixty four kilos of Thunderbolt dropped from the ceiling and quickly incapacitated her. Moving on from the ambush Juno returned to her Overwatch position and slipped a pair of grenades out onto the floor, the explosives clinking as they hit the floor. Her next target; an oriental man clutching an automatic shotgun went to investigate, bending down to find the source of the noise and eventually picking up the bombs. As he did the timers ran down from five to one detonating in a shower of ink which splashed over the thug's face and caused him to collapse behind some medical crates.

"Two down." Juno whispered as she edged along the balcony to where two men with M16s were hassling a woman in a nurse's uniform. "Four to go." Mounting the railings she leapt down to the floor, the impact of her landing causing the goons to swing round. With a single move long since perfected during a particularly risky mission in Chile, Juno threw her hands up and ripped out rifles ammo clips and threw them away. The men reacted by pulling the triggers but it was two late, three swift punches and a sloppy haymaker later both were lying face down on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Juno asked the nurse as she purposefully stepped on one of the unconscious men's necks. "Did they hurt you?" The nurse shook her head and Juno heard a click. Turning around slowly she saw the remaining armed thugs and a sack bearer behind her. Raising her hands in surrender the lead thug cuffed her and dragged the aid posts defender into the middle of the foyer.

"Who do you work for bitch?" the leader; a dark skinned woman equipped with a Glock and nightstick asked.

"Volkner." Juno replied, "It's not to late, drop you're weapons before you get hurt."

"Shut up slut." the second thug yelled, "We are going to save this city."

"Or destroy It." a third thug announced as he pulled his hood from over his head revealing a black mask decorated with a white spider. The second thug swung around and swore before raising his weapon, "Its Spiderman let's fucking ventilate him."

"Black Tarantula." the masker thug replied slamming and elbow into the man's face and kicking his Uzi away before turning to face the woman, her arm wrapped around Juno's neck, her pistol pointing at the Thunderbolt's head.

"Now Tarantula Man kneel down and put you're hands up or I kill this security guard" The woman hissed.

"Do it." Juno snarled, "Pull the trigger." The woman hesitated before pulling the trigger only for the weapon to jam. With a swift headbutt Juno sent her captor reeling before slamming the thug into a table, the blow causing the woman to collapse to the floor in agony. "You spent too much time in the cold causing ice to freeze the inside of the barrel. Usually not a problem except that it's so thick that the bullet didn't have enough punch to escape."

"You have experience in these things." Tarantula observed, "You are more then a mere security guard."

"Former military." Juno told him, "Former Thunderbolt. You are a bit of a ninja you're self, ever think about joining I assume that you're record isn't perfect."

"It isn't." a third voice announced as Abe stomped in, "Black Tarantula was a crime boss before he changed his ways. He kept out of trouble but for some reason sided with the Hand in the whole Shadowland debacle."

"A mistake, I thought Daredevil would help bring the Hand into the light not let the darkness consume him." Tarantula answered, "From what I know this is the last cell of thieves stealing for the city. Now that they are subdued I will take my fight elsewhere and protect the innocent from crime."

"Or you could stay." Abe replied, "The Thunderbolts are all just like you, former criminals trying to fight the good fight. While I have doubts about fifty percent of my team I know that you are a perfect candidate. Even if after we bring the F5 to justice you want to leave I'll be fine with that. For now I need everybody I can get."

"It is a worthy fight." Tarantula stated, "I will help you rid the city of this F5."

"Good." Abe said smiling, "Juno hook him up with communication and then see if there are any more people looking to take the law into their own hands. I'm just going to check up on the data you found."

"Roger that boss." Juno announced as she led Tarantula away. Abe smiled behind his mask, between Quicksand, Vassal and now Black Tarantula he had a fairly good team, now all he needed to do was keep them on side. Opening the door to the offices he though he saw something slink into one of the rooms. Cautiously he ducked inside and saw that a woman was sitting on the desk holding a folder.

"I've been expecting you Abe." the woman announced.

"And I you Diana." Abe answered closing the door behind him.

* * *

**Thunderbolts #27**

Even with their new allies are the Thunderbolts strong enough to take down the F5 as the icy grip of winter closes around the city. And if they are what kind of response can these former criminals expect from the people they saved and the wider world. Find out if the Thunderbolts are about to outstay their 'Welcome to the Windy City' in the next issue.


	28. Welcome to the Windy City - Part III

Rahm Emanuel stood wrapped in a set of coats on the steps of the Tribune Building as frozen aides and cameramen hurried around him in a frenzy of energy, the only thing keeping the cold at bay. Among the throng were several local journalists all watching and waiting to strike a mortal blow using the frozen city as an example of poor government.

"Today marks the day when this city came under attack." Emanuel stated, "Not from a foreign threat but from super powered individuals born and raised here. I have seen the suffering and the bravery of the people I represent and I ask the forces responsible for the shift in weather to show some mercy. In acknowledgment of any such action the city is willing to pay half the asking price as well as offering the promise of an easy exit from our city."

"Mr Mayor," one of the journalists cried, "What of the costumed individuals seen throughout the city helping aid workers and city officials."

"I have no knowledge of any such individuals." Emanuel answered, "Now if you excuse me I have to talk to the gentlemen and women responsible for the bail out fund inside."

A few minutes later Emanuel was sitting in a cold room, the lights and torches barley illuminating the table let alone the figures sitting around it, plumes of breath the only sign that the businessmen, bankers and unscrupulous figures were truly alive. Nervously Emanuel coughed and watched as their unseen eyes focused on him, boring through his body more effectively then the cold wind.

"I would like to thank you all for coming out here." the Mayor said, his tone cautious and probing, "If we could do this quickly it would be most appreciated."

"I ain't giving you a penny." one of the bankers sneered, "These thugs don't get anything from us."

"I assure you that the city will reimburse you." Emanuel replied.

"If the city can afford to do that then surely you can pay them yourself." a woman in a business suit asked.

"I want to be paid as soon as possible, no government stalling." A third banker asked, "And I want a bomb or something put in the case so we can blow the fuckers sky height before they touch our money."

"None of these plans and ideas will work." A calm voice announced, "We have to assume that these people are smart and would discover our plans. Fortunately there is another way to end this siege."

"Mr Volkner right?" Emanuel asked, "What do you have in mind sir."

"I have several super-human resources working across the city to aid the civilian population. One of them is a geokinetic and would be perfect to track the money that I personally have gathered." Seth told the others, "She leaves almost no trace and can slip out and bring in reinforcements."

"I don't like it." the first banker moaned, "Why bring more freaks in to end this."

"I agree." Emanuel sighed, "We do this without super mercenaries Mr. Volkner. You're money will be appreciated however." Seth bowed his head tapping on the ear-piece and tilting his head.

"It's too late." Seth replied, "My agent just returned with the address Cyclone is using as a base. I'm mobilizing my team and there is nothing you can say that will change my mind." he added getting up from the table and walking out of the conference room. Emanuel rubbed his head and felt sweat beading on his temples, "Somebody call the Commissioner, as soon as Volkner's mercenaries show themselves I want them incarcerated."

* * *

Abe loaded the last of the home made thermal shells into his grenade revolver, now that he knew what the F5 were capable of he was certain that the Thunderbolts would be victorious. Add in the information Diana had supplied and it looked as if the thaw would be arriving after all. Thanks to the former Thunderbolt, Abe now knew that Bora was running off an AIM made device called a 'Dragon's Tooth', a gene altering device that granted, or in this case restored, mutant abilities. Consequentially that very procedure was the reason why Cyclone was holding the city to ransom, his employer owed AIM a lot of money as well as the middle man who had hooked the two parties up. Looking out the window Abe shuddered, only twelve hours ago he had left the building and ended up making the situation worse. This time he had to win or Cyclone and Bora would make the winter ten times worse then it already was.

"It's time." Melissa said coming up behind him, "Everyone is waiting to deploy." Abe turned to look at her and saw a small half smile that displayed quite confidence on his teammates face, the feeling was infectious and by the time he had walked the Iridium Mk 2 armor out of the lab he knew what the outcome of the coming battle was. Looking around the room he saw the other Thunderbolts sitting or leaning on the assorted tables and benches scattered around the garage in the Sidewinder building, all of them looked ready for action although he could practically smell the tension coming off of the group.

"What we are about to do is not going to define us as heros." Abe stated looking at each of his comrades, "The fact that we put human lives before taking out the people responsible for this mess makes us Heros. Cyclone and his band of thugs may have the environment on our side but we are have the advantage; we know what they are capable of whilst they no nothing about us. I look around at you and see different reasons behind what led you to this moment but be it survival, redemption, honour or any other reason I see a team of individuals I can be proud of. So let Cyclone's band of freaks hide in the smoke, throw lightning in our path or simply freeze the very air we breathe, the fact is we have already won because our actions are just. So stick together and help each other in the coming battle because I intend to celebrate the liberation of this city and I expect you to join me."

"Wow." Boomerang whispered to Vassal, "Do you think that he practices these speeches or they just come to him."

"Either way it helps." Juno announced as she holstered her Tech 9, "A good General can always rally his troop's morale." Boomer stroked his chin before raising his hand, "Yo boss say that again, this time I plan to record it and send it in to CNN."

Melissa flew over the warehouse on the north bank of the Shipping and Sanitary Canal, from what she could see and hear it looked normal like the rest of the buildings along the waterfront. The only thing that possibly gave it away as the epicentre of the winter were the extra long icicles frozen down over the top of the door, almost as if the structure was trapped in an icy cage. Touching down on the edge of the canal she motioned for her half of the strike team to move forward. It was simple Abe and the rest of the fliers would bombard the roof forcing the F5 to emerge out the front only to run into Melissa's ground team. Silently her force got ready for the assault, Chris was busy melting traps in the ground, the pits covered by the rapidly falling snow while Juno set up a massive Gattling Gun loaded with mercy rounds ready to bombard those who avoided the line of holes.

"Okay Abe we're ready." Melissa whispered, "Give them hell." she added, moments later the flare of thrusters appeared through the blizzard as Abe led Vassal and Boomerang over the rooftop, the shower of released projectiles causing the snow to shake and the roof to creak ominously. Before they could even swing back around smoke begun to leak through the structure and the roof exploded upwards showering the ground team with snow and razor sharp fragments of metal as Cyclone shot upwards, his jet stream dragging the rest of the F5 out the same exit.

"Cyclone surrender." Abe yelled, "You have the money but you failed to stop the winter as was agreed."

"And you said we would be given passage out of the city once I paid AIM and the Silent Partner." Cyclone replied, "I have enough problems without the Thunderbolts hounding Me." he added slamming Abe's team with a gust of wind, the force forcing Boomerang to land and scattering Quicksand. "You will regret coming back Jenkins." he added as Supercharger streaked towards Abe like an electrified rocket. Jetting back Abe saw Vassal accelerate towards Supercharger before uncoupling himself from the airframe and falling to the ground. The glider continued its path slamming into Supercharger and continuing towards Cyclone, the jet turbine engine cutting through the chop before exploding in the French mercenaries face, a torrent of energy sparking down Pierre's flight suit and causing all the members of F5 to fall to the ground.

"Never could stand the French." Vassal growled as he emerged from the snow clutching his axe.

"And I can't stand fools who don't listen." Cyclone replied, "Hoarfrost deal with them while I plan our exit strategy." Hoarfrost smiled before facing Juno and Chris and calmly walked towards them, before he even got half way to the pair they had both opened fire until he melted into a thick blue liquid.

"That was easy." Chris commented.

"Too easy." Black Tarantula announced as he scaled one of the dock lights. Seconds later Hoarfrost exploded from the snow knocking the Gattling Gun over before elbowing Juno backwards. Racing forwards Chris grabbed the icy villain's arm only to be hit from behind by something cold. Melting the appendage he was holding he turned only to see a second and third Hoarfrost standing behind him, their arms morphing into frozen hammers before slamming him into the chest.

"This is my world." Hoarfrost stated as more icy duplicates formed out of the snow before he walked over to where Juno was struggling out of the snow, icy hands keeping her pinned down as a second clone summoned an icy dagger ready to plunge it into her heart. As the knife reached the top of its arc a projectile whizzed through the air and slammed into the blade wielder's chin, shattering his whole body into pieces. With a swift kick Juno knocked the remaining duplicate back and got to her feet glancing over to where Boomerang stood slashing at a trio of icy figures with two Bladerangs clutched in his fists.

"Hey the kid had a glass jaw." Myers joked as he cut through another Hoarfrost clone, the arms and legs shattering leaving nothing but a screaming head lying in the snow. "So do all these blokes die if we catch the real one or are they all separate entities?"

"Big word for an even bigger idiot." Mysteria hissed leaping into the fray easily sidestepping an axe swing from Vassal before slashing at Boomerang with her mist sticks. "I expected nothing more then grunting and cursing." she added blowing biting smoke into Myers face causing him to recoil choking before slapping him over the nose with one of her batons.

"We all expected that." Quicksand replied as the ground under Mysteria's feet rippled throwing her into the snow, "Sometimes people can surprise you, I know I just did." she joked as a whole pack of Hoarfrost duplicates leapt at her, the majority of them being knocked back by a swift sweep of her arms, the remainder grabbing hold and crawling up her body, their progress marked by icy trails that immobilized her arm. Flying past Melissa fired a sonic pulse at the parasites shattering both them and the ice they had created on Quicksand's arm.

"Abe we've got to take out Bora now, before she joins the fight." Melissa screamed as she passed Iridium, the armoured Thunderbolt incinerating a pair of ice clones.

"Got it Mel." Abe replied, "Tarantula you're with Me." he yelled up at Black Tarantula as he flipped a Hoarfrost clone off the roof of a warehouse. With a nod Black Tarantula sprinted along the rooftops heading straight towards Cyclone and Bora, the former still trying to start his suit while the later simply pointed at him. Leaping to the next roof Carlos felt the ground shake as a massive icy hand emerged from the fallen snow and attempted to grab him as he darted left and dropped down onto the wall. Sprinting across on all fours Tarantula looked back to see icy spurs extend down after him before turning to time the swing up to the roof, his momentum sending him spinning onto the target rooftop.

"You came so close." Bora purred as she stretched her hand out as Carlos rushed towards her, "But you still fail." she added as the air froze across the roof. Skidding in an attempt to avoid the forming ice columns Black Tarantula saw Cyclone lift off and blast him with a gust of wind, sending him flying off into the Canal. Up above Abe dived on the pair of villains firing his remaining thermal rounds at them, the projectiles melting the ice before slamming feet first into Bora, the blow shattering the rooftop and sending both of them crashing to the floor.

"Abe." Melissa yelled as she barrelled towards Cyclone, the airborne mercenary spinning out the way before touching down in front of Vassal and Boomerang, the sheer wind force flinging a shower of icy projectiles at them as even more Hoarfrost clones crawled out of the disturbed snow. Hovering over the entry point Melissa watched as the hole iced over trapping Abe inside the warehouse with the most dangerous member of F5. With an angry scream she landed and slammed a sonic hammer into the ice only to be repelled with an electric shock. Looking across the rooftops she saw Supercharger charging at her, a trio of Hoarfrost clones in his wake, electricity sparking hot enough to melt a path across the roof tops. Hastily Melissa fired a pair of sonic bolts, at the attackers, the hard sound projectiles exploding around Supercharger as the villain kept running at her, his very footfalls causing ionized bridges to form as he crossed the gaps between the buildings. With a swift charged punch he slammed his fist into Melissa's chest, the ambient energy arching across the impact site flinging her off the roof and into the snow.

"So much for air superiority." she moaned as a Hoarfrost clone shattered above her, tiny ice shards ripping holes in her costume and leaving blue streaks across her skin. "Quicksand that thing we discussed now would be the time."

Abe blocked Bora's kicks and punches easily, although he suspected that she was going easy on him since every hit caused a little more ice to form on his control surfaces. With a mechanic squeal he blocked a particularly vicious kick and slammed back, the blow causing Bora to fly through the air before hitting the wall with a thud. With a vicious smile she crossed her arms and bowed her head before stamping her foot, icy tendrils spreading out from the impact and quickly snaking over the walls and ceiling. Cautiously Abe looked around before seeing Bora pirouette across the room, icy wind wrapping around her transforming the momentum into an icy tornado that flung frost covered crates and machinery wildly across the room. Avoiding the larger pieces of debris Abe narrowed his eyes and fired his Taser, the electrified projectile easily deflected by the spinning villainess before embedding into the ice and sparking along the ceiling.

Juno flicked out her own riot control baton and blocked a swing from Mysteria before ducking under the second truncheon and outstretched her leg into the attacker's shin causing her opponent to stumble. Swinging into an upright position she blocked another attack, this time from Hoarfrost, the blow shattering her enemies arm as thick grey smoke snaked across the floor enveloping her in a dark cloud. Calmly she looked around and saw a strange glow head towards her, the temperature dropping as it got closer. With a quick sweep she slammed the baton into the figure and watched as the Hoarfrost decoy shattered as a second walked into the mist, it's presence tinting the cloud an electric blue. Unholstering her Tech 9 she fired a few shots causing the duplicate to crumple before seeing more Hoarfrost clones walk into the cloud. Coughing she dropped her second baton and removed her second pistol getting ready for a last stand before dropping to her knees her stomach heaving as she tried to steady herself.

"So you can't control smoke?" a voice announced, "Luckily I can deal with it easily." it added as the air around the cloud of fog buzzed and whirled about before being blown away alongside the shattered remains of Hoarfrost and his duplicates. Juno looked up to see Quicksand blowing above her as Supercharger threw lightning bolts down at Vassal and Boomerang, the pair of Thunderbolts ducking behind frozen cars and crates whilst fighting a veritable army of Hoarfrost clones. "It's time for Operation Sand Blast." Quicksand told Juno as she helped her up, "All we need now is Melissa."

Bora screamed as electricity ran up her body causing her spinning to stop, the flying debris crashing down and smashing open on the warehouse floor. Staggering forward Abe felt his armor freeze over as he moved closer, only his determination keeping him going. With one last desperate thrust he reached Bora only for the joints to frost over trapping him within arms length of his target. "Do you know what happens when the water inside you freezes?" Bora asked as she ran her hand across Abe's chest, "Me neither, let's find out together."

"Hey Bora you bitch, I heard that you were the worst ballerina in all history." Melissa yelled from outside. Abe watched Bora squeeze her free hand before pushing him over, "Don't worry lover I will be back for you." she hissed as she smashed through the hole she had frozen over and emerged next to Supercharger.

"And as for the ice thing, well Blizzard and Coldheart are scarier then you." Melissa continued as she walked over to where Juno and Quicksand were standing.

"And the whole white after Labour Day is just a little offensive." Juno added causing ice to form around Bora's fist.

"The whole leotard thing doesn't make you look classy either." Quicksand announced, "Just slutty." Bora screamed something in Russian before sending a wave of ice over the three women leaving Boomerang and Vassal alone as Hoarfrost and his duplicates moved in. With a roar of anger Vassal stormed forward bulldozing his way through the clones before being stunned by a thrown lighting bolt.

"Great." Boomerang moaned as he launched a Shatterang at the ice tomb, "Last man standing, what the hell happened to the kid and the spider."

Chris melted a hole through the warehouse and blazed a trail to the iced over Iridium suit. Running his hand over the surface he watched as the ice dripped away exposing the metal plating. Stirring Abe sat up and moved his fingers, the last pieces of ice shattering as he did. "Is everything going to plan?" he asked Chris.

"Everything so far." Chris replied, "I just fished Tarantula out of the canal. Melissa just got iced over and Vassal made it look like he was trying to rescue her."

"That means Operation Sandblast is about to conclude, is Carlos ready?" Abe asked. Chris looked up and pointed at the rooftop, a white spider moving across the dark ceiling towards the entry hole.

Boomerang lashed out with his jet-boots and a discarded length of pipe, smashing Hoarfrost clones as they closed in. As the last Thunderbolt standing it was up to him to keep attention away from Melissa and the other girls until they were ready to act. Slashing out backwards with his pipe he saw Mysteria run towards him, a trail of smoke following her as she sprung off a crate and plummeted towards him. Reflexively Myers lashed out with the pipe and smacked her away before being grabbed from behind by Hoarfrost.

"You're turn to surrender." Cyclone chuckled as he and Supercharger advanced towards him.

"I'd rather die." Boomerang yelled, "Or at least get one more day in the beach."

"What are you talking about you crazy idiot." Hoarfrost hissed, his breath causing ice to form on Myers cheek. "We're not letting you go to the beach."

"Maybe I wasn't talking to you." Boomer answered as the ice tomb glowed pink and exploded along the length towards Bora showering the former ballerina with sand that buzzed and flowed around her. Turning back Cyclone sent a pulse of wind and blew Quicksand away to reveal Bora wrapped in a pair of bandoliers, the pockets loaded with armed grenades, the lights blinking furriously as they counted down to detonation.

"What the…" Bora yelled before the grenades detonated in a flash of light causing her to collapse. Springing from the hole Black Tarantula ran up to the fallen villain as Cyclone landed on the roof upping the wind shear and threatening to knock the Thunderbolt off the roof.

"Foolish American you never learn." Cyclone snarled.

"Actually we did." Black Tarantula replied his eyes blazing before releasing a pair of cobalt blue energy beams that slammed into Cyclone and ripping through his armour's gyroscope. With a scream Cyclone spun off backwards before being catapulted across the roof and into the canal. "And for the record I am not American." Black Tarantula commented as Bora got to her feet. Jetting up from the hole Abe emerged and looked down on the villain as Black Tarantula stepped away from her.

"Hey Bora ever wonder what happens when you're Dragon's Tooth shorts out?" Abe asked firing a micro-flachette into Bora's flank, "Let's find out." he added as Bora outthrust her arms only for a few flakes of snow to circle around her digits. "Okay Mel, Chris it's all yours." he yelled down at the Thunderbolts. Concentrating Melissa summoned sonic spheres around all the Thunderbolts save for the Melter as Chris stood arms outstretched with at least a hundred Hoarfrost clones encircling him, their breath freezing as they got ready for the kill. Chris smiled and locked eyes with Mysteria and Supercharger, his glance causing them to look at each other before turning tail and fleeing.

"Hoarfrost meet Global Warming." Chris announced as the air around him became superheated, the warmth spreading out and melting the advancing Hoarfrost army into a big blue puddle that snaked down a drain and into the sewers. "Damm it he got away." Chris spat, "What about the others?"

"Vassal and Boomer are on it." Melissa replied as the two Thunderbolts vaulted across the thawing snow banks after Supercharger and Mysteria. Slamming down in the parking lot the pair of them watched as the two villains turned to face them, smoke and lightning whirling around their hands.

"Which one do you want?" Vassal asked Myers.

"Mysteria, that crack she made earlier is just begging for a punching." Myers replied leaping across the car park and landing in the fog. With a snarl Vassal ran at Supercharger, his axe held out like a pike as the villain threw lightning bolts at his attacker, the energy sparking along the handle and into the blade until it was glowing white hot. "Whoa dude wait." Supercharger yelled as Vassal slammed the axe into the villain, electricity arching up and down the shaft, the weapon sucking the energy out of Supercharger until he no longer was sparking and collapsed to the floor. "Here." Vassal snarled throwing a pair of triple A batteries at Supercharger, "For when you wake up." he added as he slammed his fist into the villain's face. Across from him Boomerang slammed Mysteria into the bonnet of a frozen Chevy and removed a pair of his trade mark weapons from his belt, clicking them open and slipping them around the woman's wrists a band of energy arching between them to keep her contained.

"Now who's an idiot?" Boomer told her as the rest of the team arrived dragging Bora and Cyclone in a pair of sonic bubbles behind them. "So four out of five that's good."

"Three." Mysteria spat as she collapsed into a pile of smoke and was blown away out of the handcuff boomerangs.

"That's not my fault right?" Myers asked as Abe handcuffed Supercharger.

"No we didn't know she could do that." Melissa announced, "We caught the most dangerous part of the F5, I have no doubt we will see Mysteria and Hoarfrost again through."

"So what now?" Quicksand asked, "Do we hug or something?" As she finished speaking a pair of spot lights lit up the parking lot as armed police and National Guard stormed the area, their weapons trained on the Thunderbolts as a pair of helicopters filled with armed snipers hovered overhead.

"Now." Abe stated, "We get arrested."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #28**

Are the Thunderbolts bound for the Raft despite their heroic defeat of the F5? Find out in the final part of the arc as Chicago's newest Heros find themselves the hottest things around as they are 'Welcomed to the Windy City'.


	29. Welcome to the Windy City - Part IV

The ball bounced against the back wall of the cell and back to the throwers hand accompanied by a tuneless whistled rendition of Coldplay's Yellow as Boomerang angled up another shot. The arrest of him, and his teammates had been bloodless and relatively easy, Abe had ordered the team to aid the police and their National Guard backup in any way they could, and while Vassal and Quicksand had argued against it eventually everyone had decided that his word was one they could trust. The only real annoyance, as far as he could see, was that Cyclone had been but in the cell next to them and was moaning about being caught.

"God that really is a pain in the neck." Chris spat as he sat down on the bench next to a meditating Black Tarantula, "Can they hurry up with what ever there doing upstairs."

"Just ignore him Hot Head." Boomer replied, "The worst he can do is viciously taunt us like those idiots in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Hey Cyclone," he called, "You're mother was a hamster and you're father smelled of elder berries."

"Merde de Anglais." Cyclone snarled, "You will pay for that Myers."

"Oh shut up." Melissa snapped as she threw a sonic shield around Cyclone's cell. "Boomer stop throwing that ball or I will cut it into pieces." she added as she leaned against the wall. "Juno you okay back there?" she added catching a glimpse of Smokescreen sitting in the corner rocking slowly back and forth.

"I don't like jail cells." Juno stated flatly. "When the US Army court martialed me I was left in a cell for three days without any human contact save the torture sessions."

"That's rough." Vassal commented, "This is my first time in here." he added ducking under the light fitting, "Guess guys my size don't come along too often."

"Well I'm bored." Quicksand purred as she swept up Boomerang's ball and crushed it in her sandy grip, "How long does it take to process people in this precinct."

"They are not processing us." Black Tarantula told her, his body unmoving as he spoke, "They are arguing about what they should do with us."

"He's right." Abe added as he walked past the sonic shield across the adjoining wall of bars, "My guess is that there are people who want us free while others who would like to see us locked up. Seems like we have a case of SPQR on our hands."

"SPQR?" Chris asked, "Is that an Acronym or something."

"The Senatus Populusque Romanus was the governing body of the Roman Empire for a while. It was formed of the Senate and the People who influenced their policies and ideals. In this case the people are most likely routing to have us released for our actions earlier today but the local government will be against it for a number of reasons." Vassal explained, "I'd guess that opposition is coming from Pro Maggia members of the Mayors officer and the senior ranks of the police. Given that we are all criminals it would be hard for them to trust us with the safety of their city."

"So we're relying on a mob to get us out of here?" Boomer asked, "I feel better already."

"Let's focus on one thing at a time." Melissa added, "Like where the hell has Quicksand gone?" she added as the others all looked around the cell for the Thunderbolt in question. Abe slapped his forehead in frustration, it was easy to guess what had happened, Quicksand had slithered through the bars and made a break for freedom.

"That's all we need." Abe moaned, "Mel open the door." Melissa grimaced before concentrating on the cell door. Moments later tiny sonic explosions blossomed around the hinges before running across the bars causing them to vibrate and hum. "Vassal if you want to do the honours." Vassal flexed his arms walked up to the gate and pushed it onto the floor. Stepping out of the cell Abe looked up and down the corridor before leading the others to the steps up into the precinct building.

"We shouldn't leave the cell." Juno hissed as she curled up further into the corner.

"Don't worry about her I'll deal with it." Melissa said stepping back into the cell. "Just get Quicksand back here."

"I'll see what I can do about the door." Boomerang offered, "May want to try and fix it before the fuzz get back here." Abe nodded before running up the stairs followed by the rest of the Thunderbolts as Myers ran his hands along the hinge of the door and sighed before stepping back inside to rejoin Melissa and Juno, "Nope it's busted." he stated, "Now Smoky what happened to make the US Armed Forces court martial somebody as talented as you."

"I can't tell you it's a secret." Juno replied cradling her head in her hands.

"Well don't tell us the specifics." Melissa suggested, "Just the Cliff Notes version." Juno shook her head before holding onto her knees.

"Private Shepherd I order you to explain you're actions." Boomer yelled trying and failing to speak in an American accent. Juno lifted her head and stared at him before giving a wobbly salute.

"I…I…killed my entire squad." Juno whimpered, "There was only one hostile but he whipped all of them out. The Generals blamed me, said I had gone insane and murdered them all since there was no sign of anyone else on the mountain."

"Who killed them?" Melissa asked.

"The man in blue and yellow." Juno replied her eyes glowing a dull violet, "I saw him only for a few seconds as he killed Kali. And then he came for me, he moved so fast I thought he was going to kill me. When they found me I couldn't remember anything, if it wasn't for Lieutenant Thorpe who knows what they would have done to me."

"I don't think she's alone in there." Boomer said quietly to Melissa, "Did you see that?" he asked as Juno's eyes went from purple to their normal hazel colouration.

"Yeah that was weird." Melissa added, "Juno you okay?"

"I'm fine." Juno replied, "Are we being released?" she asked as she pulled herself up to a standing position whilst stretching her arms above her head.

"Kind of, Abe and the others are already on the way up to see what's going on." Melissa stated as Juno walked past her and out of the cell. "Tres weird." she added as she followed her out through the gaping hole.

"Wait take me with you." Cyclone yelled, "I demand you take me." Boomerang turned to face him removed one of the washers from the door and threw it through the bars and into the prisoner's forehead knocking him onto the floor. "Should have done that as soon as we got here." he muttered before following Melissa and Juno up the stairs and into the police station.

Even without his armor the sound of thundering feet rushing through cold deserted corridors was almost overwhelming. Crashing through the squad room it soon became clear to see that the station was deserted due to the non existent resistance. Reaching the first deck Abe stopped, his followers skidding to a halt behind him, looking out through the frosted windows he could see a massive crowd all sitting on the ground with only a few individuals on their feet. Reaching for the handle Abe felt something brush against him before he was gently dragged back by a sand-grain covered hand. Looking up along the arm Abe saw Quicksand put a finger to her mouth before she drifted past the rest of the Thunderbolts and back into the squad room. With a quick arm movement Abe signalled for the others to follow her before retreating back into the room and running into Melissa's party as they came in from the other entrance.

"What the hell is going on?" Abe asked as Vassal closed the door to the atrium. "And why did you just disappear?"

"I kept feeling weird vibrations." Quicksand announced, "I went to check them out and I'm glad I did. Plus I was bored in that box, no offence but you are not the most interesting people in the world."

"None taken." Chris grumbled.

"The situation outside is a hostage crisis." Quicksand continued ignoring the moaning teenager, "A local street gang called the Druid Sickle bum-rushed a press conference about us and is holding the mayor, police commissioner and about two hundred people hostage. The majority are wired to an old air-force bomb in the middle of the square. If any of them move the device explodes and showers everybody with shrapnel. Between that and the dozen gang members with assault weapons and the two snipers on the roof they have the entire place locked down."

"What are their demands?" Black Tarantula asked.

"They mentioned that they were just here to deliver a message." Quicksand answered, "They want to talk to us."

"I can't see any way that this ends without more people dying." Melissa stated, "They are not simply going to release those people as soon as we step out of this building."

"Let me just get my armor and we'll find out." Abe announced as he headed for the evidence room. Melissa nodded and watched as Boomerang crept into the atrium and stuck his face against the glass. Nervously she followed him out and saw him tapping on the glass as he stared out at the crowd of hostages standing outside the building.

"You know the blokes out there don't seem right." Boomer told her, "There not even shivering and their movements seem stiff. I know that its cold out but it shouldn't be that cold at least not after we dealt with the F5. I think they really are robots."

"Boomer that is stupid." Melissa replied as she pushed him out the way. "Still I'm picking up a strange harmonic coming from the thugs closest to us linking them to the 'bomb' that Quicksilver described in the centre of the plaza." She turned to see Myers push the door open and step out into the cold, his hands outstretched in a sign of cooperation as he walked up to the closest goon, the thugs unblinking eyes not registering his arrival even when he walked past him. Gingerly Melissa stepped out herself quickly covering the gap between the door and the same thug Boomerang was now poking in the ribs.

"Are they robots?" she asked locking eyes on the snipers perched above them.

"Nah these guys are human but they don't seem to be in charge."

"Jesus Christ what re you guys doing?" Abe yelled as he stood in the door, only half his armor fitted over the matte black flight suit he wore.

"It's okay they don't seem to be active." Melissa told him as she hovered up to where the snipers stood before scooping the pair of them up and lowering them down onto the steps. "These are not the people who called us out. Somebody other then the local two bit thugs and hooligans are interested in the Thunderbolts."

"Thunderbolts." A voice echoed across the square. Abe looked around as did the rest of his team. All the individuals wired to the device in the middle of the crowd as well as the hostages were talking with one voice. Somebody was using innocent people to send a message. Abe just hoped that when the hostages to the unknown entity were released that as little damage as possible occurred to the crowd. The few people not wired into the device were quickly surging through the thong, all of them desperate to escape the mass hypnotism. Among the free individuals Abe recognized Seth and the Mayor, the rest all appeared to be business men and politicians all of them looking terrified of what was happening around them.

"We are here." Abe yelled at the crowd, "Who are you and what have you done to these people."

"I am the Silent Partner, you fell for my trap just as I hoped you would." the voice boomed.

"You hide behind innocents, using them as weapons and shields." Abe snapped, "You are the worst kind of scum, we will not stand for this kind of treatment of civilians."

"You misunderstand." the Silent Partner announced, "These people are the reward rather then a weapon. I give you their support for defeating my agents, the real trap was the winter they created. Now that I have you're attention I can outline m, using them as weapons and shields." Abe snapped, "You are the worst kind of scum, we will not stand for this kind of treatment of civilians."

"You misunderstand." the Silent Partner announced, "These people are the reward rather then a weapon. I give you their support for defeating my agents, the real trap was the winter they created. Now that I have you're attention I can outline my plans for you now that you are in my kingdom."

"The F5 were working for you?" Melissa snarled, "Did you control them like you control the masses before us?"

"In a way." the Silent Partner answered, "I needed players for the game we're going to play; my allies and I gently nudged you into this position before baiting the final snare. My terms are simple; the creatures at my disposal will attempt to stop you even kill you. You're job is to stop them, show the world who you really are and when you are ready I will contact you again." As his words finished fire shot along the wires from the human puppets burning their way back into the transmitter before exploding outwards across the crowd, the wave of energy passing through the majority safely but incinerating the gunmen into piles of ash where they stood.

"My god what happened." the Mayor yelled glaring up at the Thunderbolts, "What did you do?"

"Us?" Vassal snorted, "We did nothing."

"You heard the mysterious figure, we are not in charge of our actions, this madman is threatening to attack the city again like he did through Cyclone and the others." Black Tarantula explained.

"Then you should leave." a police officer hissed, "This is you're fault."

"You're right." Abe stated, "Mel make me loud." he whispered, "People of Chicago we the Thunderbolts failed you today. Not only did two super criminals escape custody today but we also never believed that anything like this would happen."

"The bitch turned into mist while the other one melted down the piss hole." Boomerang muttered, "You don't have to rub it in."

"But of the many names Chicago has, the one I like most is the Second City because it promises a new beginning. We are not the best people in the world, far from what you deserve but give us a chance and we will put everything we have on the line to keep you safe." Abe told the crowd, "The Silent Partner made a threat against every single one of us with his promises of more attacks. We are going to make sure that his days are numbered, and if anyone else in this city thinks they can do better then his stunt today I want them to think again. If you attack us or this city you may regret doing so, I don't care if you're a lowly mugger or Count Nefaria himself every criminal in this city is now accountable for their crimes. I promise that I will make this city a safer place or die trying." As Abe finished the entire crowd roared into applause that thundered across the city. At the back of the group a blonde woman smiled before taking out a phone and dialling a number. "Boss you're plan worked the Thunderbolts took the bait. I'm heading back to base, Mysteria out." Taking one last look at the hero Mysteria smiled before vanishing in a puff of smoke leaving the celebration behind her.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Abe placed the bottle of champagne down on the work bench as the other Thunderbolts crowded round him, each one of them clutching glasses of various alcoholic beverages. "Friends, teammates and others." he announced, "Today we did something amazing, today we became Heros. I'm proud of you and hope that from now on you will consider you're futures differently."

"Damm right." Quicksand hissed, her human form blowing slightly in the fans as she took a sip of the Martini she held.

"Yeah I need to sock that Silent bloke in the face before I go join up with the dolphins." Boomerang yelled.

"Good because today I name this heap of junk." Abe stated, "And you get to help me. Any suggestions?"

"What about Scarab?" Melissa suggested as she refilled her glass of Rose.

"Too close to what I was." Abe replied, "Next idea."

"Stratosfire." Chris announced, "That would make it sound cool."

"Sorry but there was somebody called that before." Abe told him, "She was killed by the Sunturion."

(For more on that check out Iron Man Annual #9)

"I got an idea." Boomerang said putting his hand complete with a pitcher of Strongbow above his head.

"Vassal what about you?" Abe asked ignoring Boomerang.

"I have no words mostly because I want to her Boomer screw up." Vassal replied.

"How about the Hazardous Environment Response Armor?" Juno suggested, "You could use the acronym HERA."

"A little vein are we not." Vassal stated, "Hera and Juno were the same deity just with different names."

"Oh chose me." Boomerang asked as he hopped up and down impatiently. Abe smiled and pointed at him, "Jetstream." Boomerang yelled, "You could call yourself Jetstream."

"Already taken but defiantly not as bad as I was expecting." Abe stated, "But I have decided to call her the Interceptor." he announced tapping the bottle against the suit of armor. "Long may she serve me well in the coming storm."

"More like a hurricane crossed with a maelstrom." Volkner murmured as he stirred his cocktail, "It's going to get rough out there, I know that you can handle the super criminals but the media and the politicians will be a much bigger threat. For my part I will do what I can to keep them off you're back but be careful you might think you're stepping into the light but the dark is closer then you think even when you capture the Silent Partner."

"Then we'll just have to make sure that we don't get blinded." Melissa replied as Abe opened the garage door to reveal a darkening sky with flecks of snow glistening in the air, "Today is the day when the Thunderbolts became Heros" she added as Abe cocked his head. "What is it?"

"High Altitude Robbery." Abe replied, "Killer Shrike is attacking a cargo plane heading for O'Hare."

"No rest for the wicked then?" Boomerang asked.

"None at all." Abe replied as he pulled on one of the Interceptor armour's gauntlets, "None at all."

* * *

**Thunderbolts #29**

The Thunderbolts and the Avengers in the same place? With two teams of Neophyte Heros on the loose what will happen as old rivalries come to the surface and more then professional jealousies develop. And that's not the only strange 'coalition' to occur as Chicago's Underworld begins to target the team of former villains directly. Who or what will the Thunderbolts face? Find out in the next issue.

New Thunderbolts will return in Late April/Early May

* * *

A Note from the Writer

I'd like to take this moment to thank everyone who has read this title and personally commented. As what I'm calling 'Phase 2' is being readied I would like to urge people to comment and critic what has already been submitted. And if you can't wait for May then check out the section on my profile called 'Ten things you need to know about New Thunderbolts Phase 2'.

Thanks again for reading.

Impurest Cheese


	30. Coalition - Part I

Cody thundered down the street as a police cruiser came flying through the air, siren blaring and lights flashing as if that would help it slow it's travels. With a grunt Cody swung his axe and cut the cop car in half, the blade easily dissecting the vehicle as the remains clanged beside him to the floor. The thrower, a red skinned man with an oversized crab claw for one hand and a long barbed stinger for the other turned and glowered at him with recessed black compound eyes before speaking, his mouth parts flapping contrasting with the hissing of his voice.

"The surface dwellers made a big mistake challenging the might of At'La'Tique. We will drown you're world with the same polluted waters you used to kill my people."

"Right." a voice stated beside Cody, looking down he saw Oxide clad in the orange and black jumpsuit he wore, "So besides being this afternoons Catch of the Day do we know anything about this guy?"

"No." Cody replied as the Crab Man spat more words about pollution and Atlantean superiority, "Although I think I heard of At'La'Tique before."

(Yep it's the same At'La'Tique behind the Fathom Five seen in the real New Thunderbolts consisting of Lyron, Man O War, Blood Tide, Sea Leopard and Dragon Rider in Issues #1 - #5)

"You should have, these guys were brought to justice by the Thunderbolts a few years ago." a third voice told them. Cody flinched, he knew that the person talking to him was back at the tower that they were using as a base but he still found voices entering his head a little intrusive. Calmly he took a breath before marching forward to face the threat as his opponent snapped a lamp post in two. "The creature before you is a mutated Atlantean known as the King Crab. While he never has been a threat to Atlantis or the surface we have good Intel that suggests he has been gathering an army to him after the Phoenix incident."

"We got it Volkner." Oxide replied, "Looks like we're having crab cakes tonight Vassal." he joked as he reached out with his powers and melting the lamp post that the Crab was clutching like a makeshift staff just before Cody reached the Atlantean Terrorist and slammed his axe haft first into the villain's chest knocking him to the floor. Retaliating King Crab aggressively locked Vassal's left leg with his claw and squeezed causing the giant man to grunt in pain as Oxide slammed a burning fist into the Atlantean's shoulder.

"That was unwise surface dweller." King Crab hissed as he threw Cody away down the street, "My armor protects me from the fires of the sea mounts and the arctic depths, you're flames can not touch me." On the 'touch' he twisted and thrusted his stinger into Oxide's hand, the point stabbing through his palm and into the bone. The reaction was instant, Oxide yelled in pain at the impact and second's later fire erupted up King Crab's arm charring it just under the elbow, the ferocity of the Thunderbolts defence causing him to scuttle backwards. His hand now free of the stinger Oxide looked down to see big globs of orange blood leaking to the floor and igniting the tarmac where he stood. "Vassal I need that Freon bandage now before I bleed out." he yelled as both Cody and King Crab got to their feet. With a roar Vassal charged at the Crab, the Atlantean terrorist crumbling as he tackled through him and quickly wrapped a bandage over Oxide's hand, the strip glowing blue before stemming the tide of radioactive blood.

"Thanks man, I almost melted down there." Oxide announced as King Crab hovered over Vassal, his claw positioned ready to guillotine through Cody's neck. With a grunt the Thunderbolt raised his axe and slammed the flat of the blade into the Crab's face causing him to real back before falling backward onto his back.

"Do you really think you can come to Chicago and mess with the Thunderbolts?" Cody asked as he slammed his axe down over the claw keeping it pinned to the ground.

"Thunderbolts." King Crab hissed, "I surrender."

"Sidewinder this is Vassal, King Crab is neutralized but for the sake of security I suggest that somebody escorts him to O' Hare until we turn him over to SHIELD." Cody suggested.

"Not SHIELD this time, the Atlantean Consulate called while you were fighting." Volkner replied over the Comm. Link, "They want to question King Crab themselves and are sending a party to collect him. You and Oxide stay on station until they arrive."

"Got it boss." Cody announced glancing at King Crab writing on the floor as Oxide helped a few police officers move the villain into a van ready for transport as the security cameras relayed images back to a server hub hidden deep under the city, a small group of figures watching the fight with great interest. Turning away the seated man took a sip of bourbon before picking up a check list and handing it to the woman standing on his left hand side. "Mysteria it appears the representative of At'La'Tique will not be taking part today. Who do we actually have left attending our meeting?"

"AIM is already here as are the Druid's Sickle and 88 street gangs." Mysteria announced, "The Maggia is also coming but will be unwilling to participate in any alliance. We may also have representatives of the Quintos Rohas Cartel and Golden Triangle Syndicate joining us by satellite but how much they support they will give us is unknown."

"They will join us." the Silent Partner told her in a confident voice, "Mathemaniac the call you intercepted; alter the physics and send it to Point Alpha Victor, we will need a show of strength to get the others to accept that the Thunderbolts are a danger to their enterprises."

"Can do boss but…well is it a good call to bring them in?" Mathemaniac stammered, "It's just that they are more dangerous to our plans then the Thunderbolts."

"No they are not." the Silent Partner replied quietly, "My superiors at FACT believe that the Thunderbolts are the reason why they failed, before they can proceed with the cleansing the Thunderbolts must be eliminated."

"Of course sir." Mathemaniac whimpered, "They should be here soon but I want nothing else to do with this part of the plan."

"Nor should you." the Silent Partner stated, "Others will be responsible for the carrying out of the rest of this plan."

Seth Volkner looked out over the city, the tips of the skyscrapers gleaming in the mid morning sun. Thanks to the aftermath of the F5s attack Chicago was having unseasonably warm weather, perhaps as a karmic equalling for the early winter that had gripped the city only two weeks earlier. While Seth had been apposed to Cyclone's plot he had to admit that he had come out a winner, business was up and thanks to the need for support staff to aid the Thunderbolts in their campaign against crime he had become the largest employer for the third quarter, a trend that looked like it would continue into the last part of the year too. "As I was saying Melissa the Atlantean situation is under control." he murmured while looking out the window, "But the FAA has picked up an unknown aircraft entering the city's airspace. Cursory scans show the plane is armed with high calibre canons and rockets. Even if it wasn't heavily armed the energy being discharged by the vehicle would make it a danger if it were to crash."

"So you want us to force the pilot to land." Melissa announced as she lifted a pair of sonic dumbbells in the garage. "Or at the very least ascertain who is flying the thing and determine if they are friend or foe."

"Exactly." Volkner answered, "Vassal and Oxide are currently busy but as far as I know everyone else is not busy at the moment." Melissa turned to see Abe working on his armor next to where Boomer, Juno and Quicksand were playing cards. "Everyone is already to go." Melissa replied loudly, "Send co-ordinates to the Interceptor armor and we'll make sure that the city is safe." she added as the sound of scrapping chairs and groans sounded all around her, "Rest assured the Thunderbolts can handle this Sir."

"I have no doubts you can." Volkner reassured her, "But others do. Simply try you're best and the results everyone is hoping for will come to fruition." Melissa nodded before walking over and tapping the garage door button, the heavy shutters sliding upwards to reveal the open sky. Clanking as he walked Abe came to stand next to her before nodding silently at her, this mission was different it required restraint and empathy rather then raw power, it would be a big test of the others abilities.

Five minutes later the booster powered form of the Interceptor armor cut through the low hanging cloud followed by a streak of pink and orange as Songbird and Boomerang followed him up, the former dragging a platform for the remaining Thunderbolts to stand on. Judging from the readings the mystery aircraft was travelling slow and low making it an easy target to stop, Melissa was more worried about the pilot and passengers, something wasn't right but she couldn't figure what it was. When at last the plane came into view she realized why she was feeling so apprehensive, with a big 'A' emblazoned on the stubby wings she instantly recognized the aircraft as an Avengers Quinn Jet, something that made her stomach roll.

"Is that a…?" Juno asked, her voice muffled by the re-breather she was currently wearing.

"Yes it is." Abe quickly replied, "Melissa hail them while I do a sensor scan and plot course trajectory."

Melissa nodded and cleared her throat before sending a stream of sonic vibrations into the vehicle's fuselage. "Attention Avenger Quinn Jet, please identify yourselves and you're destination and then head outside city limits if at all possible." Abe listened as he flew over the top of the aircraft, his suit scanning the hull, as Volkner had mentioned there was a lot of energy but no crew or passengers, it was almost as if the Quinn Jet was the ariel equivalent of the Mary Celeste, a ghost craft doomed to wander the skies forever or at least until it ran out of fuel.

"Nobody is aboard but fuel sensors show that the jet only has 20% of its fuel capacity. I suggest we board her, taker her down to O'Hare and then notify the owners and find out how it got here." Abe stated.

"You're wrong." Black Tarantula answered, "I can sense something is wrong with this plane, it would be unwise to board her."

"Well we have no choice, the last time this happened a MiG 23 flew from Russia to Belgium and crashed into a house killing somebody. Factor in that this thing has a hydrogen fuel cell and is carrying depleted uranium warheads then we are going to have a bigger mess especially if it crashes into a tower block. No it's too risky to leave it, Juno cut this can open and we'll get this thing down to the deck where it can't do any harm." Abe sighed as Juno activated her magnetized boots and stepped onto the Quinn Jet's wing, each foot fall clanging against the hull as she got closer to the hull.

"It's not too late to walk away." Black Tarantula told Abe as Juno fired up an acetylene torch and began to cut through the fuselage. Abe was about to reply when a hatch on the part where Smokescreen was working opened up causing her to topple inside as a shadow emerged from the darkened hold.

"Thou are the villains responsible for the sabotage." the bearded form of Thor cursed, "Thy will pay for such insolence." he added as Havok and Wolverine flanked him in the doorway.

"There the Thunderbolts." Wolverine snarled, "Careful they may look like losers but I know from experience that they are devious especially the pink one."

(Songbird, MACH V and Revenant managed to dupe Wolverine and Luke Cage in Persona Non Grata - Part III)

"They are still thugs and murderers." Havok stated, "And it's our job to deal with them whoever they may be. Avengers Attack." he added before firing an energy beam at Abe, the blast slamming into his torso and charring part of his suit. In that brief second everything went wrong, angered by the attack on their leader the Thunderbolts struck before being repelled by blasts of lightning. It seemed that everybody had forgotten why they had been sent here in favour for the clash of titans that was about to occur. Groaning Abe saw Quicksand slink around the wing to attack Thor from behind as he threw Mjolnir to knock out Boomerang, the Australian marksman harassing the Avengers from above with a flurry of released projectiles.

"Sand no." Abe yelled, "I need you to get inside and bring this thing down."

"Easier said then done." Quicksand replied as she smothered Thor, the Norse God thrashing as Wolverine ran past trading blows with Black Tarantula, the pair of them gracefully dancing around the plane, a swift contrast to the rest of the fighting. "I have a score to settle"

"Well do it on your own time, we were sent here to…" Abe was suddenly knocked back as Songbird came flying at him, her body propelled by one of Havok's energy blasts. Flaring her wings Melissa stopped and dropped under the plane leaving Abe alone in mid air, the already smoking Quinn jet powering away from him. Flaring his boosters he rocketed towards the fight and opened fire, it was clear now that the only way to save the plane was to beat the Avengers and commandeer the aircraft, he sighed it appeared that his team would have to play the villain of the piece one more time at least.

Thor roared, his angry bellow causing lightning to spider web across the sky as he ripped Quick Sand off of him, her form dissipating as she flew away from him. Turning he saw another attacker in the form of Boomerang fly towards him, a pair of Razorangs clutched in his fist, the first angry slash missing him by seconds before the Thunder God slammed him away with Mjolnir. Flying backwards Boomer slammed into a sonic baseball glove hovering next to the jet.

"Maybe I should try out as well?" Melissa asked, "Boomer we need to focus if we're going to stop these guys. If we can get people inside then maybe we can stop the plane and talk this over like the rational people we are."

"We already have someone inside." Boomer replied as he cut power to his thrusters and ducked under an energy blast thrown by Havok just in time, "Smoky who are you doing?"

"Not good." Juno replied through gritted teeth from behind a bulkhead the sound of clanging and gunfire framing her voice, "I'm inside but Captain America is stonewalling me, I could take him out but I'm a huge fan so as such I'm more conflicted then I was last presidential election."

"Anyone else in there?" Boomer asked.

"None of our guys but the Scarlet Witch and some mutant girl are backing the Captain up." Juno announced, "Okay the plane is about to shake but hopefully nothing to severe is about to happen." she added as the last grenade was attached to the oxy-acetylene tank. "Sorry Cap but I need to get through." she added kicking the tank out towards the cabin, her IED exploding half way towards its target and flooding the space with smoke. Running through the fog Smokescreen opened fire, mercy rounds bouncing off the Avengers until red spheres of energy surrounded the pair of Glocks she carried causing her weapons to jam.

"Impossible." Juno spat, "Fucking impossible I cleaned my guns just before leaving."

"Not impossible just improbable." the commanding voice of Captain America announced, "The Scarlet Witch manipulated the odds and played them in our favour." he added as he smacked Juno round the face with his shield sending her crashing into a bulkhead. "Rouge get outside and help the others, for some reason the Thunderbolts are trying to take over the ship and while I'm sure they have a good reason I'd rather know what it is before hand."

Melissa siphoned a blast of lightning along a sonic shaft and diverted it high into the air where it exploded in a brilliant white light. Beside her Abe fired a pair of mini missiles down at Thor only to see the god smack them away with Mjolnir as if they were nothing more then irritable mosquitoes.

"This is stupid." Abe spat, "While Thor stands there we can't get anyone else inside to help Juno."

"I have a plan." Melissa answered, "Quicksand get ready I'm giving you an entrance in a few seconds." she added before hovering above Thor her hands and eyes glowing with a pink aura. "Have at thee Thunderer." she bellowed before summoning a sonic hammer and throwing it at the Asgardian, the construct knocking the deity off the wing and leaving the door unguarded. In an instant Thor returned but he arrived too late, as he repositioned himself the last few grains of sand had snuck through the open door into the Quinn Jet's interior.

Black Tarantula crawled across the bottom of the jet with Wolverine in hot pursuit, the stocky Canadian using his claws to swing across the control surfaces in a speed only a hair slower then his own crawling. Turning Carlos watched as his pursuer stopped out of arm's reach and flipped forward so that he could use his trade mark claws in the battle that was to come.

"End of the line bub." Wolverine snarled as he gritted his teeth. Carlos narrowed his own as he saw something glinting from one of the roof tops; it only took him a few seconds to identify what it was, but it was a second to late as the gunman fired the Stinger missile directly at the Quinn Jet, the rocket slamming into the left missile battery and detonating the warheads with enough force to send the plane spiralling down before secondary explosions ripped the vessel apart. The first struck the cockpit, the force cracking the hardened ceramic of the windows and dragging Juno's unconscious body out into the air outside. Struggling against the vacuum Captain America watched as the Scarlet Witch closed the emergency shutter locking him in the pressurised part of the plane before the entire underside of the cockpit was ripped off sending her flying along with Wolverine and Black Tarantula as their fight resumed.

"Shit there gone." Melissa screeched as Abe fired a pair of micro-flachette into Havok's neck and leg, the mutant angrily plucking the first dart out and firing an energy blast at the Interceptor armor at the same time as a blast of lightning, the combined energy overloading the suit and sending the pilot plummeting past his teammates. "Abe," Melissa screamed as she dived after him, "Abe activate you're auxiliary pack."

"It's part of the plan." Abe replied over the radio, "The old ball and chain. I'll remove Havok so you can keep the jet in the air with less flack from the Avengers." Melissa squinted and suddenly saw what Abe meant. Climbing back up she hovered opposite Havok and threw a pair of sonic shields around his hands effectively neutralizing his powers before coyly pointing at his feet just in time to see the cable attached to the dart yank him off the jet. Scanning the ditch Melissa saw that only Boomer and Quicksand were left, the later wrapped around Thor, her body keeping his arms bound before nodding first at Melissa and then the remaining wing. Understanding the cryptic message Songbird cut through the wing and watched as it, her teammate and her hostage went tumbling before she wrapped sonic coils around the remaining wreckage.

"Melissa look out." Boomerang yelled a little too late as Rouge wrapped her hands around Songbird's neck sending the Thunderbolt into a deep coma. Boomer went to intercept only to see Captain America leap out of the plane and slam into him, sending him veering towards the others. Struggling Myers looked up to see the Quinn Jet detonate, the concussive wave of energy sending the remaining Thunderbolts and Avengers flailing as they fell at breakneck speed towards the ground below.

* * *

**New Thunderbolts #30**

As the Avengers and Thunderbolts fall from grace the head of the underworld factions are set a challenge by the Silent Partner. The goal; the death of the Thunderbolts, The reward is control of the criminal elements. What horrors will they unleash on our Heros and will the Avengers and Bolts unite in time to stop them?


	31. Coalition - Part II

As the final detonation ripped the Quinn Jet apart the shooter lowered the Stinger Missile Launcher and deactivated the active tinting of his armour from matte black to it's usual blue and yellow colouration. Placing his weapon in the black and yellow case that lay at his feet the shooter closed the lid to reveal a pair of red dials clamped to the surface. Bending down he twisted the knobs and stood back to watch lines of scarlet light run across the surface before disappearing leaving nothing but a sharp metallic tang to reveal anything had happened at all. Almost immediately his armour comm link buzzed and the shooter smiled behind his ballistic mask, his current employer must have caught the show and liked it. ''This is Spymaster what's the situation boss"

"The package arrived undamaged and on time." The voice on the other end of the line announced, ''The teleportation network is stable enough to transport non living items. Once again you have lived up to your reputation."

''And the destruction of the Avenger Quinn Jet?" Spymaster asked, ''What are you're instructions regarding that?"

''Leave it and head to point bravo, get into position and support Mysteria with our next objective. Others will take care of the remaining Thunderbolts and Avengers."

Spymaster looked up at the burning halo of smoke where the jet had been intercepted by the missile. ''As you wish boss." Spymaster announced, ''Sierra Mike on the move, ETA at Sidewinder building is in ten minutes. Spymaster over and out."

The Silent Partner turned away from the array of monitors that hung on the walls of his command blister before taking a sip of bourbon and flicking the switch on the left arm. With a whoosh the chair lifted up and emerged from the floor at the head of a long table, the remaining seats taken by a veritable who's who of Chicago's underworld. The closest to the end of the table where little more the street punks, members of the Druid's Sickle street gang and their dreaded rivals the 88s. Having men such as these in close proximity was only possible due to the seniority that the next to figures had. Clad in a suit was the Maggia representative and sitting opposite him in a yellow environment armour was the leader of the local AIM cell. The last two people were being represented by proxies due to their extreme distance from the city. Clad in a red cloak was Carlos Rojas the leader of the Quintos Rojas Cartel a deadly necromancer who controlled the bulk of the narcotics trade while his partner from the Golden Triangle, a heavily tattooed Indonesian man who went by the name of Dragon Eel supplied top line smugglers and mercs to transport the product. And while the Silent Partner knew he couldn't trust them for the moment he, and his employers FACT, needed them under his control.

''Gentlemen I am glad that you all could make it to our meeting" the Silent Partner stated with the warmest smile he could muster in this current situation. ''My proposal is simple I want you to turn you're resources over to me."

''Are you insane." the Maggia representative spat, ''Why would any of us do that?"

The Silent Partner smiled before clicking his fingers, the quick snap causing a TV screen to rise from the floor playing the recent footage of the Thunderbolts. ''Because of them.'' he announced' ''While you believe that these heroes can be brought, convinced to leave you're illicit activities alone or even moved out of town I know that the only solution is to destroy them.''

''So why haven't you killed them?" Carlos asked.

''Because I believe that this is a dream that we all share." the Silent Partner stated, ''For that reason I am willing to give you an opportunity to prove the worth of your organisations."

''Our worth?" the AIM doctor asked, "Surely the one who kills the Thunderbolts should be in charge."

''Something I did take into consideration," the Silent Partner answered' "Hence why I asked that you invite you're best bodyguards and assassins, the one whose representative kills the heroes will be put in charge. The dice are set I suggest that you get moving the Thunderbolts will soon regroup and see to their wounds, you may say that I have given you a perfect scenario to deal with our little problem."

* * *

Black Tarantula squatted on the tree branch and stared down at the wreckage of the Quinn Jet,s left control surface lying in a burning crater. Standing below him was the Scarlet Witch, her costume torn and her body bruised, her hands glowing with arcane power. Narrowing his eyes Tarantula sprung off the branch and slammed his fist into the Witch's neck pushing her to the floor before hand-springing off her body and landing on the Quinn Jet ready for a counter attack. With an angry half screech-half hiss the Scarlet Witch got to her feet and fired a hex bolt at the crashed piece of jet causing Carlos to slip forward. At the last moment the Thunderbolt was able to save himself and sprung into the canopy.

''The trees won't save you Thunderbolt." the Witch hissed, "The odds always work against people like you.''

''Then you should have no problem finding me." Black Tarantula replied as he silently moved position. Seconds later a hex-bolt flew towards where he had been causing the leaves to fly off revealing dark branches but little else. "Still no joy.'' Carlos mocked before a wave of hex bolts flew around the clearing and defoliating the trees in a wave of gold and red. Blinded by the falling leaves the Scarlet Witch only knew where Black Tarantula was by the rapid strikes and the rippling eddies of foliage created when he moved, it was clear to her that she would never be able to catch him but there was another way to defeat thus opponent. Focusing on the foliage itself Wanda cast a single hex bolt that struck the first leaf before chaining through the whole storm of falling foliage. As the light dimmed the cry of pain left Carlos's mouth as his cover became a swarm of razor sharp daggers all biting at him at once. Dropping to the floor he saw that his opponent was terribly bruised and like him running on pure adrenaline. Racking his brain he realised that there was no way to win against a foe as determined as he was.

''So Black Tarantula is it?" The Witch asked, ''With out you're cover how do you expect to beat me?"

''I don't," Carlos answered, ''But since none of my teammates brought down you're air plane then I suggest we cast the net wider, think of who may benefit from our continued conflict."

''To many people to name." Wanda answered.

''Then it is even more urgent that we find our friends before our enemies do." Carlos suggested.

Wanda smiled bitterly before opening her arms in a gesture of peace, ''So where do we start?"

* * *

Open sky greeted the fully armoured soldier as she looked into the void, the down-draft of the Blackhawk threatening to knock her out of the craft. ''Okay Amazon Squad get ready." she ordered the five other women in the chopper. ''Okay everyone sound off." she bellowed, "Juno clocking in"

''Kali loud and ready to go.'' An Indian woman yelled.

''Pele bringing the heat.'' A third woman barked.

''Nemesis locked and loaded.'' The next hissed.

''Ritona ready for splash down.''

''Mari ready to unleash the Thunder.'' The last added in a horse voice. Juno nodded before stepping out of the chopper and falling before feeling the impact with the ground shudder through her legs. Looking around she saw a body lying prone in-front of her. Cautiously knife in hand she advanced and rolled the body over only to see three blades slash towards her. Flipping backwards Juno watched as the open countryside rippled to form white walls and the corpse morphed into the stocky form of Wolverine heading towards her. Vaulting over a bench Smokescreen pulled out her Glock and opened fire, mercy rounds striking the Canadian mutant before heading to the next bench as Logan slashed through her cover.

''Alright so you know that you don't want to get near my claws.'' Wolverine snarled, ''Don't know who you are but you just proved that you ain't stupid just an idiot.'' He added as Juno swapped out her empty clip and removed a tactical knife and charged her attacker, the furry of her assault catching Logan off guard as the blade stabbed through his neck. Stunned he barley blocked the follow up attack as Juno stabbed a pair of spiral knives into his knees before firing a shot through Wolverine's skull.

''Problem solved.'' Juno stated as she left Logan lying on the floor of the mall.

''Problem?" Logan snarled as he got up, "You don't know the meaning of the word.''

* * *

Flashes of light and blasts of solid sonic energy flew around the docks, the brunt of the attack being adorned by the armoured form of Interceptor, the pilot inside hunkering down as he watched the pair of Avengers focus their attempts on his partner Boomerang as he ran from cover to cover occasionally throwing his trademark projectiles only to see the shatter before they reached their targets. Looking up Abe saw Rouge streak past on sonic butterfly wings throwing a shower of sonic daggers across the concrete, each blade leaving pink craters to match the temporary tinting of the Avenger's hair.

(Rouge stole Songbird's powers last issue - Issues finally in Order Impurest Cheese)

''So you're the Thunderbolts.'' Havok sneered as he continued to fire energy blasts at Abe. ''From what I heard you were somebody that could actually do something. ''So far all the big beetle could do was sting me.'' Opening fire again Havok watched as he fired of plasma at Interceptor, the beam striking his armour before running over the surface and discharging off the wings in little red ion storms. ''That blast should have melted that armour off you within seconds?"

''Well maybe you should have paid more attention.'' Abe replied, ''That sting injected nanites into you're bloodstream. Right now tiny machines are attaching to you're DNA and inhibiting the mutated strains. For the next twenty minutes you are a normal human like the rest of us.'' he added charging up his shoulder mounted lasers. ''With all the energy blasts you fired at me the energy siphon in my suit is overloaded and ready for action.'' Activating his firing systems Abe opened fire cobalt beams of light flying towards Havok only for the energy to be blocked by a hastily erected sonic shield summoned up by Rouge.

''Did you really think it would be that easy sugar?" Rouge asked as a pair of sonic throwing stars hovered above her shoulders. Abe shrugged before resuming his laser fire, the blasts of energy destroying the incoming projectiles before they reached him. As the last star dissipated Rouge took flight, bombarding Abe with new constructs now seemingly unaware of Boomerang as he climbed onto the cab of a crane, one of his trademark weapons drawn and ready to be released. As Abe dodged a wave of sonic blades he saw a boomerang whizz past followed by a second projectile, the pair of rangs detonating in a flash of brilliant light only inches from Rouge's face. Lasing out blindly Rouge fired a sonic field at the crane bisecting the base and causing the structure to topple and Boomerang to spring off the tower and jet away from the collapsing piece of structure, his path leading him straight towards Rouge. Diving on an intercept course and ducking through laser fire Rouge trapped Boomer by the neck and dragged him down to the deck only to see Abe holding Havok close to him, a modified wing blade held at the Avenger's throat.

''Well this is an interesting situation.'' Abe stated.

''Surrender Thunderbolt or you're man enters a comma that he will never wake up from.'' Rouge retaliated, inching her hand closer to Boomer's throat.

''Any time you want to save me mate.'' Boomer yammered, ''I can't believe that a simple stop and save the day mission turned into this.''

''Save the day?" Rouge asked.

''We were called out to stop you're jet from crashing, Mel even hailed you but we got no answer.'' Abe explained, ''Shit what happened to her, if you got her powers then she was unconscious when she fell.''

Melissa opened her eyes to see the bleak warehouse space around her, empty save for the chair opposite her and the man sitting on the chair holding his trademark shield. Jerking into a sitting position Melissa realised that her arms and legs weree bound and that a sonic harness much like her old on was draped across her shoulders.

''What the hell is going on?" Melissa snapped.

''Relax Melissa and listen for once.'' Captain America stated, ''Ever since our last encounter I asked Hank to make that new harness to inhibit any sonic abilities you have. Ever since Dorcas restored you I have feared that I might have to use this on you. For so long I held hope that you could eventually join the Avengers but then you do something like protecting Jenkins after he tries to murder a whole town. It is clear Melissa that you are to self destructive to truly be an Avenger.''

(Songbird and Captain America last fought in New Thunderbolts #13. In Thunderbolts #171Lumeal Dorcas restored her old Screaming Mimi abilities. It still appears that Abe is being blamed for Revenant's attack on Burton Canyon.)

''The only destruction going on is the damage you're Quinn Jet was going to do when it crashed into the city.'' Melissa snapped pushing back and causing the chair she was tied to smash. With a quick handspring Songbird had flipped into a standing position her arms raised ready to fight. Angrily Captain America balled his fist ready to strike, with a smile Melissa ducked under the blow and caught the Avenger in an elbow lock before being repelled back by her enemy. With a low hiss Melissa launched herself at Rogers locking an arm around his shield and blocking a follow up punch before springing off Captain America ripping his shield away.

''I am more then able to protect myself without relying on my powers.'' Melissa announced as she threw the shield away as Captain America ran towards her. Elegantly Melissa ducked under his strike and flipped Steve onto his back before ripping the inhibitor harness in half. ''Now why don't you tell me what you were doing in Chicago?" she asked as she fastened Captain America to the floor with sonic staples.

''We got a call from you're boss Volkner.'' Captain America announced, ''Something about an Atlantean criminal needing pick up.''

''Wait what?" Melissa spat, ''Volkner what the hell is going on?"

''Melissa we have a problem over here can it wait?" Volkner announced as alarms sounded in the background.

''What's with the alarms Volkner?" Steve said in a accusing voice, ''What are you stealing?"

''Nothing but we are in the process of a break in ourselves, security reported seeing Mysteria, Spymaster and Speed Demon in personnel and in the main lab.'' Volkner explained, ''I need you back here now.''

Melissa looked down to where Captain America lay before dissipating the sonic staples that kept him pinned to the floor. ''If you give us a hand then we'll get to the bottom of this.''

''Agreed for now.'' Steve answered before looking at Melissa as she cocked her head to one side. ''What is it?" he asked as the whole warehouse begun to shake.

''It's trouble.'' Melissa answered.

* * *

Lightning flashed as the wind swept the falling combatants around, wisps of sand weaving through the hair of Thor as it blew around. Raising Mjolnir he watched as tendrils of sand restrained his legs, her body dragging him towards the ground. Angrily Thor roared and sent lightning down his body causing the sand to harden into glass just as the rest of Quicksand's body detached, her body waving in the wind as the silicon shattered into long glass daggers.

''What doth you're attacks really hope to achieve.'' Thor asked as Quicksand morphed her hands into hammers and dived after the shards of glass. With a mighty swing she smashed the shards into sand and absorbed it back into her body. Looking up she saw lightning flash again as Thor dived towards her slamming Mjonir through her body and crashing through the roof of the building below. Diving after her attacker Quicksand looked around the church the pair of them had broken into and the terrified church goers hiding behind the pues, the two heroes seemingly ready to go another few rounds. With a thunderous roar Thor charged towards Quicksand as she morphed her arm into a bladed sand saw, the teeth made from gleaming silicon crystals. As Mjolnir slammed down Quicksand dissipated her weapon before hardening her arm trapping the God as he attempted to wrench himself free.

''Please both of you stop.'' the Padre asked, ''You are frightening my parishioners.'' he added as Thor sent lightning up and down the Thunderbolt's body causing her to collapse and slither away from before reforming in front of the Padre. Whirling his hammer around Thor bellowed as he released Mjolnir at Quicksand as the Thunderbolt peered behind her before hardening her body, the force of the hammer shattering her body revealing the Padre who had been standing behind her. Walking over to the collapsed form of Quicksand, Thor grimace before raising his hammer, ''I will end you villain, you're reign of terror ends now.'' Before he could slam Mjolnir down their was a high pitched whistling sound before a purple tipped arrow sparking with energy stabbed through Thor's chest, the god falling to his knees to reveal the shooter, a dark skinned elfin figure with glowing amber eyes and fang like teeth fitting another energy arrow in his bow.

''Err thanks.'' Quicksand purred as she reformed.

''Silence Thunderbolt my master demands you're head.'' the elfin figure hissed, ''But the death of the Asgardian will make the name Dracorous of Svartalheim known across the nine realms.''

Volkner thundered down to the lab and stopped the bodies of his dead security team sprawled across the room. Looking inside he saw Mysteria and Speed Demon loading blood samples in a pair of lead cases while Spymaster stood and supervised the process, a pair of red dials in his hands. Turning the villains smiled at him before Speed Demon took off carrying the first case. Unholstering a stun-gun Volkner crashed through the door and aimed it at Spymaster, the villain slamming the dials into the case and twisting the dials. Within seconds the box was engulfed in red light before vanishing right before Seth's eyes.

''Be seeing you Sidewinder.'' Mysteria purred before vanishing in a cloud of smoke dragging Spymaster with her. Lowering his stun gun Seth walked over and looked at the rack that had contained the stolen vials.

''Thunderbolts we have a problem.'' he groaned as he picked up the card marked 'Thunderbolts Blood Samples'.

* * *

**New Thunderbolts #31**

****As the forces of the Underworld close in on the Thunderbolts and Avengers a more deadly enemy emerges as a far more deadly foe attempts to finish our heroes once and for all. Prepare yourselves for the return of the new and improved Super Adaptoid.


	32. Coalition - Part III

Speed Demon came to a stop in the Silent Partner's lab on the edge of the city, not looking at the disapproving glares that the Silent Partner and Mysteria shot at him. Across the room Spymaster sat with the case containing the samples he had stolen from the Sidewinder building earlier day.

(As seen last issue)

"Did you jettison the decoys?" Mysteria asked as the Silent Partner fixed a welding mask over his face.

''As we speak some shmuck at ESU is being investigated by the FBI and SHIELD for possessing stolen genetic material.'' Speed Demon snorted as Spymaster kicked the case of samples over. ''Hey you be delicate with those, you spill them and then we are boned.''

''Abbot listen to the good doctor.'' The Silent Partner ordered as he pulled out a green tub of gel that swirled slowly inside. Pulling on a thick pair of gloves the Silent Partner opened the tub and reached inside. ''Sanders we have much work to do.''

* * *

Quicksand collapsed backwards crushing the Padre under her body as Demongoblin loosed a trio of arrows the tips embedding in the alter and sparking with purple energy. At that moment the crowd panicked pushing past the Dark Elf and giving Quicksand the chance to slither over to Thor. ''Now listen if I pull this out can you give me a hand with this guy since he's from your neck of the woods.'' Thor grunted something and Quicksand took it to be a yes and poured sand into the wound, the granules of sand pushing the arrows out. Thor grunted again causing Demon goblin to turn and spot the preoccupied Thunderbolt and removed a dagger carved from horn, it's blade glowing amber as he pounced at Quicksand, the blade slicing through her arm, the lopped off limb hardening into glass.

''How did you?" Quicksand gasped as Demongoblin pulled out a second blade. With a feral scream he slashed again, the knives creating burning contrails through the air as Quicksand collapsed, slithered through his legs and formed behind him before smashing him round the back if the head with a grainy hammer, the blow sending Demon goblin flailing backwards through the font, holy water burning the left side of the face a bleached white.

''You're gods hold no fear for me. After my people banished me from my home the desert savages held me prisoner, built a house of god on my tomb. I was trapped until the Red Lord released me and as my Lord I will end you.'' Demongoblin snarled removing a spear made of wood, its tip blackened and crackling with green energy. ''This is the spear of Hod, the murderer of Balder. It will be you're bane as well.'' He added charging in towards Quicksand who twisted away and backhanded the elf causing him to trip and crash into one of the pues. ''Well looks like you're bark is worse than you're fight.'' Quicksand mocked, ''And it looks like it's about to get worse.'' She added as Demongoblin levered himself up with his spear.

''Get worse?" The elf snarled, ''How...can...it...oh crap'' as he spotted Thor get up and summon Mjolnir to his hand.

''You have made a grave error coming here Dark Elf.'' Thor roared, ''Now leave here before facing the wrath of Mjolnir.''

''Save me a place at Helhiem Odinson.'' Demongoblin hissed as he charged in with his spear. Thor smiled before summoning lightning from Mjolnir, the bolts of electricity striking the elf and propelling the creature out the church.

''And now for you.'' Thor bellowed raising his hammer ready to smite Quicksand, ''I will end you're villainy once and for all.''

* * *

Melissa threw up a sonic shield over her and Captain America as the warehouse wall crumbled as a wave of sonic energy caused the wall to collapse revealing a man in green armour and the five yellow suited AIM agents all armed with photon canons.

''Captain America?" One of the AIM agents yelled, ''If we kill Captain America and Songbird urgh.'' The AIM flunky crumpled as a shield and a sonic boxing glove struck him in the face. Almost instantly the remaining goons opened fire as the armoured figure fired another sonic pulse, the pressurised sound waves meeting Melissa's sonic shield and causing it to shatter into pink shrapnel that bit into the unprotected faces of the people stood behind it.

''So who is this guy?" Captain America asked as he blocked a follow up pulse from the armoured attack, the blast ricocheting off the front and colliding with an AIM agent, the blast knocking him through the blown out wall.

''He's called Tremolo.'' Melissa answered, ''Last time we met he was part of the Great Game and was targeting the UN. We stopped him and his buddy Polestar and as far as we were concerned that was it. Looks like he's back and working for AIM.'' She added as she threw a sonic bolas at another AIM agent knocking him to the floor. The remainder of the AIM troops threw down their weapons as Tremolo blasted at Melissa the sonic blast slamming her into the wall.

(As seen in the real New Thunderbolts #2 - Impurest 'Always Recycling old Villains' Cheese)

''Sir we need to access you're armour.'' An AIM trooper buzzed as he and the remaining three troopers held out long black pieces of metal. Melissa narrowed her eyes and realised she had seen such devices before. Reaching out with her powers she tried to swat the first tube away only for her construct to be shattered by a well timed sonic blast from Tremolo.

''Captain if AIM loads those Dragon's Teeth into Tremolo's armour he will get more powerful.'' Melissa warned as Cap threw his shield and KO'd one of the AIM technicians. Two of the remaining goons reached for their pistols as the leader slammed the first tooth into Tremolo's shoulder point. In a mad dash Melissa sprinted towards them only to be caught in a tornado of sound, the sheer force causing her ears to pop.

''We were sent specifically to kill you Miss Gold.'' The lead technician mocked, ''You can't do anything to stop us.''

''But you weren't counting on me.'' Captain America stated as he leapt over a laser beam before landing foot first into an AIM agent before socking a second in the face. Tremolo turned and opened fire once again exposing his shoulder. With a primal screen Melissa leapt into the Frey and slammed a sonic shrouded fist into the shoulder socket and releasing a sonic blast inside the suit before being thrown away as Tremolo's armour exploded leaving behind only a shuddering woman clad in nothing but a bra and panties.

''I thought you said he was a man.'' Captain America stated as he shield bashed the lead technician round the face.

''I did too.'' Melissa answered summoning up sonic cuffs around Tremolo. ''If this happened to us then the others could be in trouble too.''

''Then we have to hurry, you're base is close and perfect rally point.'' Captain America stated, ''You warn your people and I'll warn mine. Once we all regroup we'll take the fight to whoever is responsible.''

''Easier said then done.'' Melissa replied, ''So much more then you ever could know.''

* * *

Speed Demon removed the telescopic endoscope from the pile of muck before chucking the tool in the sink. Stepping away he turned to the lab's two way mirror and knocked, the glass becoming transparent and revealing the Silent Partner sitting in the shadows watching and waiting expectantly for results. ''Well boss.'' Sanders stated, ''It was way too easy so naturally you're little project is ready to go.''

''Then why isn't it moving?" The Silent Partner asked coldly.

''Ah yeah about that.'' Sanders yammered. ''Until the blob gets a jump start then it's just a blob. It needs a mind to copy so it can get rolling.''

''Then use yours.'' Mysteria suggested as she slid from behind the Partners' chair. ''Surely you want to see this magnificent construct up and about.''

''FACT are demanding a report on the results ASAP.'' Spymaster added from the shadows. Sanders looked back at the Adaptoid and saw it twitch before form into a human shape. Stepping back he looked around as the cybernetic goo hardened into a human form.

''But how?" Sanders gasped as the Adaptoid sprung sonic wings before dissipating into a pile of dust and reforming back into human shape.

''I never ask my people to do anything they feel uncomfortable doing.'' The Silent Partner stated using the Adaptoid's grating and halting voice. ''Now to join the hunt.''

''What target do you want to eliminate first boss?" Spymaster asked as he brought up a holographic map of the city.

"These two.'' The Silent Partner hissed pointing at O'Hare airport before collapsing the Adaptoid and slithering out the lab before reforming and locking the door. ''Mysteria inform the others that I am not to be disturbed and Abbot...'' he stopped and smiled at Speed Demon, ''Dispose of the loose end.''

* * *

''Okay Mel I read you.'' Abe announced, ''Hey X-Men or Avengers whatever I have a message from you're boss.''

''Yeah right sub.'' Rouge stated as she wrapped an arm round Boomer's neck. ''Do we look that dumb.''

''Listen to me AIM and god knows who else is stalking the streets looking for us.'' Abe yelled. ''I'm going to release this guy,'' he added dropping Havok to the floor, ''because I'm going to need both hands to deal with the real bad guys.''

''Rouge don't listen to him.'' Havok snorted as he got up and ran over to the remaining hostage. ''These guys are super villains so we can assume they lie.'' Abe groaned as Rouge looked from Havok to her former opponent and shook her head.

''Abe.'' Boomer gasped, ''Behind you.''

Abe spun around just in time to see a man covered in black insulating tape and rubber sealed boots smack him in the face, the fist sparking with internal energy. Angrily Abe repelled his attacker and checked his suit's diagnostics, the area his attacker hit was off lined and barley responding. Activating his thrusters he jetted upwards as the attacker snaked tendrils out of his back, his target just out of range. ''Now do you believe me.'' Abe yelled down at the Avengers just as a the sound of a sniper shot rang out with his thruster cutting out seconds later, his armoured form crashing to the deck. Almost immediately the first attacker jumped him only to be thrown off as Rouge and Havok joined the attack, the pair of them repelling the assassin.

''Okay so he was right about the attackers.'' Havok admitted, '' Doesn't mean I have to like him.'' he added as the attacker grabbed his arm, his body sparking and hissing. For some reason Havok felt weak, his kicks unable to dislodge the energy sucking fiend. Taking a deep breath he balled his fists and tried one last desperate attack. To his surprise his hands flared with energy, the force propelling the attacker into the remains of the crane.

''Okay anyone want to tell me what's going on?" He gasped as more sniper shots rang out.

''Well fill you in later.'' Boomer told him. ''Abe gunboat in the harbour moving into position.'' He warned as a Sunseeker Predator came to a stop, the black armoured merc on the deck swinging an M240 machine gun around, his finger already on the trigger, bullets ripping the concrete waterfront apart. Leaning out Boomer threw a Shatterang towards the boat, the projectile detonating above the gunman.

''This is crazy.'' Rouge yelled as she summoned a sonic shield along the waterfront as more sniper rounds rung-out. Looking down she saw the Sunseeker Predator head towards the dock, a trio of armoured mercenaries ready to disembark as a forth remounted the deck gun. As the first stepped off he was caught by a burst of gunfire as one of the packing crates opened up and six or seven goons in t-shirts and jeans emerged, their shoulders emblazoned with a green 88. Abe rolled his eyes, these guys had bitten of more then they could chew as the mercs gunned the street hoods down before turning to the heroes sheltering behind the sonic shield. One of them strode forward her hands wrapped around a shotgun and fired, plasma rounds chewing through the shield.

''Open fire.'' The Merc Leader purred as she pulled out a second plasma shotgun. Before they could respond wire like tendrils snaked up their bodies, electricity pouring from the end until the two elite assassins were reduced to dust. Crawling from the water the man in black emerged, electricity arching up and down his body.

''Boss I've heard stories about this guy,'' Boomer whispered, ''He was an electrician before he botched up a job for the 88s. They caught him and stuck a power cable down his mouth and turned it on. But because he was a mutie he survived but because of the voltage his brain melted practically making him a zombie.''

''The Grid Serial Killer.'' Abe snorted as the woman with the shotguns opened fire at Grid, ''I heard that too but I had no idea that it was real. The woman with the guns I know though, a hired assassin called Joust, she was last seen in Jakarta working with the Golden Triangle smuggling catel. My guess is that they are the mercs in the black armour.''

''Well do we break them up or let them kill themselves?" Boomer asked,''Just kidding boss. Since the Grid eats energy me and my busty hostage taker should deal with him while you and the Cyclops wannabe take out Joust.''

''Deal but you look at my boobs again and you end up in a permanent comma.'' Rouge stated as she threw a wave of sonic blades, the majority slicing through the wires on Grid's back. With a hiss of pain Grid discharged a wave of energy that caused Rouge to veer off, lightning sparking up her body. Taking to the air himself Boomer threw a rang only to see it fly off course as Grid fired a burst of electricity to intercept the projectile. Looking around Boomerang smiled before throwing a pair of Taserangs the tips sparking as they flew past Grid, the projectiles whirling around him, the boomerangs ripping the energy from his body, the polarised projectiles acting against each other leaving the assassin's body limp on the concrete.

Havok fired pulses of energy that met with the blasts of Joust's plasma shotguns in massive amber clouds of energy. Ducking behind the nearest crate, Joust removed a pair of grenades and threw them over the cover, the twin explosives bouncing off the concrete and exploding showering the Avenger with shrapnel. As he moved position the gunner on the Sunseeker opened fire as Joust leaned out and joined the assault, plasma blasts raining out and melting the concrete. Pinned down Havok fired at the remains of the crane, the molten liquid raining down on the boat, the gunner jumping overboard as the gun exploded setting him alight. With a screech Joust sprinted between the crates only to run straight into Abe's sights before darting back as a hail of mercy bullets streaked toward her, a few impacting with her arm. With a sigh she dropped her weapons and ran across the dock before plunging into the ocean before disappearing under the waves. Seconds later she emerged, her hands up in surrender.

* * *

Juno sat staring at Wolverine as he kept his claws primed looking for a sign of weakness. His hostages smell was strange, it kept shifting as if different people were flexing under the skin. ''Okay girl tell me why you attacked us in the jet and down here.'' He snarled

''Trying to save the city.'' Juno answered, ''You're jet was a danger to the city. We were told it was derelict, scans even showed that nobody was onboard.''

''Very convincing.'' Logan growled, ''You're heart rate didn't change suggesting that you aren't lying but then again it didn't change in battle either. Whoever or more correctly whatever you are you smell like corpses despite the mask you hide behind. And you,'' he snarled at the six foot tall shirtless man covered in tattoos and carrying a five foot long falx. ''Smell like cinnamon incense and rose petals.'' He finished retracting his claws from round Juno's neck and gutting the man. ''Now where were we?" He asked as Juno reached down for one of her grenades. ''Try it and you end up like that urgh.'' Before he could finish the Falxman swung his blade ripping Logan's spine out before kicking him away, the tribal tattoos on his chest glowing emerald green.

''And now Thunderbolt you die at my hands just like your companion.'' The Falxman grunted. Dropping the grenade Juno vanished in a cloud of smoke before activating her active cameo and slipping into the background. Her opponent advanced methodically, his tattoos fading from pure light back to black ink. Silently Juno ran past him and reclaimed her knife from Logan's 'corpse' and held onto the blade, lining up the shot before throwing the knife only to see the Falxman parry the projectile as he continued his hunt. Heading towards her Falx cut through another thrown knife before slamming his blade through Juno, her form rippling before collapsing as the hologram shut down.

''Very convincing.'' Falx murmured as Juno stood behind him, ''But you are still too easy to track.'' He added turning to face her as she cocked her pistol. ''Go ahead I am a son of Dacia, no blade or bullet can slay me.'' Juno smiled and opened fire, the 'ink cap' bullets erupting on his chest covering his tattoos with thick ink. ''Pathetic.'' Falx snorted raising his blade ready to strike, as he brought it down Wolverine pounced slicing his claws through the assassin's back, the ferocity of the assault knocking him to the floor. ''I am an immortal.'' Falx gasped, ''You can't slay me.'' He added as his tattoos glowed a dim green under the ink before he collapsed. Wolverine looked at Juno before retracting his claws.

''Okay you get the benefit of the doubt this time but there will be a reckoning for what you did and I will be there.'' Logan snarled. Juno nodded and gave Falx a swift kick as he tried to stand.

''And as soon as I know what I did I'll gladly pay for it.'' She reapplied as Wolverine slinked off into the distance. ''Or maybe I already am.''

* * *

Bullets ripped through the park as the Maggia owned helicopter hovered over the glimmering 'hex shield' that the Scarlet Witch had thrown up over herself and Black Tarantula. After what seemed like an age the firing stopped and the helicopter thundered away. Dropping the shield Wanda looked around the remains of the glade, those few trees not snapped into pieces by bullets were defoliated, their limbs barren and scarred.

''We have to move this place is unsafe.'' Carlos stated as he strode towards the Sidewinder Building, it's trade mark crossing points making it easily recognisable. Stopping suddenly he caught something moving and turned to see a woman dressed in black with white spiders decorating her costume. Reaching out to her Carlos saw the woman flinch and run deeper into the park. He was about to follow when the Scarlet Witch yelled a warning as the earth shook and the muscled form of the Unicorn came charging in, energy sparking along his horn. Vaulting the charging felon Carlos span round and kicked the man in the back, his blow causing the Unicorn to shudder before spinning around angrily.

''Okay you wanker.'' The Unicorn barked in an Australian accent, ''Try and dodge these.'' He yelled as he fired an arm mounted harpoon at Black Tarantula, the tip glowing red as it flew through the air. With a smile Carlos leapt over the dart and hand springed into the Unicorn his kick spinning the villain round so he was facing the Scarlet Witch. ''Ah playing it up for the Sheilas fellow.'' Unicorn cackled as lights lit up along the legs and back of his costume. ''Well they love looking after a bloke in the hospital.'' He added as he span around and flew at Carlos, his charge assisted by thruster boots concealed in his boots. Ducking Carlos saw Unicorn fly over head before being struck by a hex bolt. Seconds later the Australian hitman impaled his horn in a tree, the bark unwilling to release him despite his curses and kicks. ''You can't bloody well leave me here.'' He yelled as the two heroes ignored him.

''We have to regroup.'' Wanda ordered as the helicopter swung back around.

''No.'' Carlos answered, ''This has been a trap since the beginning. The destruction of your jet was to weaken us, the attacks to distract us. Meanwhile our enemies play a different game. They used the prisoner to lure us in but that too was a ploy. They will have figured out that we know and will go to silence him.''

''That means you're friends at the airport are in danger.'' Wanda announced as Carlos brought out a phone and tapped in a number, the device ringing before falling silent. Carlos took a deep breath. ''We may already be too late.''

* * *

Oxide took a sip from the can of Red Bull before melting the metal and watching it slip through his fingers. The molten aluminium was far more interesting then King Crab and their backup or replacements, whatever Vassal had arranged, hadn't turned up yet. The big man in question was currently standing outside the customs building looking vigilantly down the runway. Heading outside Oxide stood by his side and saw what his comrade was watching as the wall of green sand headed towards them.

''What the hell is that? He cursed as Vassal removed his axe and pointed to the nine foot tall shadow inside the sandstorm.

''Trouble.'' He grunted as the sand exploded outwards in a pink halo of sound, the individual particles ripping through the parked planes and buses. Charging in Vassal saw the figure charge as well it's hand morphing into a massive axe. With a defining clang the blades met and Cody activated the energy edge on his weapon, the tip burning through his enemies arm and weapon. Without a single word or grunt of pain his opponent fired a sonic blast at him throwing him backwards along the runway.

Stepping forward Oxide focused his powers on the Adaptoid, the metal monstrosity's form melting until it collapsed into a pool of slurry. Looking at Vassal, Oxide smiled only to see the larger man's ashen face staring past him. Behind him the Adaptoid reformed wreathed in flame as the tarmac bubbled at the creatures feet and along the stretch towards them. Focusing once again Oxide ripped the heat from the deforming runway before being smashed round the face with a massive hammer made of sand, his body thrown back into Vassal's.

''That thing has our powers!" Oxide spat as the Adaptoid opened fire with a shower of sonic and burning darts as Vassal grabbed him and leapt behind an abandoned city bus.

''Not just ours.'' Cody answered. ''It was Cat's and Melissa's too. I'm guessing it might also have Boomer and Abe's tactics as well.''

''Hey where did that thing go?" Chris asked as he poked his head round the shuttle bus. Cody joined him and saw that the attacker was gone. ''So did we beat it?" Oxide asked as the air rippled behind them and the Adaptoid de-cloaked, it's hands clutching a sonic hammer. Vassal turned and acted instinctively slashing out with his axe only to see the construct collapse and slither away before reforming, it's skin aflame as it sprung up to a height of twenty feet, it's multiple arms clutching an array of sonic weaponry.

''No kid.'' Vassal announced grimly, ''This fight is just getting started.''

* * *

**Thunderbolts #32**

Its the Avengers and the Thunderbolts vs. The Super Adaptoid but how long will this fragile alliance last. And who is Tarantula's mystery stalker, what's going on with Juno's memories and what is the Secret Partner's plan for Chicago's newest heroes. I would be lying if I said all the answers were in the next issue so keep reading to find out.


End file.
